A British competition to find two strangers who will marry on the first day that they meet has been condemned by church leaders and relationship counsellors.
The competition, organised by Birmingham-based BRMB radio station, mirrors an Australian blind date show in which a couple met for the first time at their wedding ceremony. But after collecting £50,000 in cash and enjoying a Paris honeymoon, the couple split up within two months.
Yesterday the "Two Strangers and a Wedding" competition was described as a cheap publicity stunt and an insult to marriage. The Archdeacon of Aston, the Ven John Barton, called on the station to cancel the contest. "To attach prizes to a sort of blind date competition is to reduce marriage, which is a God-given institution, to the level of a game show," he said.
The competition offers a Caribbean honeymoon and a year's use of a car and rent-free accommodation to the winners.