After allegations of sexual abuse in season 14 of Paradise Hotel the decision was made not to broadcast the following season. Now the rights to season 15 have been sold and the show will be broadcast this spring – something that the participants have reacted strongly to.
In August 2021, the company Nent, which owns TV3 and Viaplay, announced that the fifteenth and final season of Paradise Hotel would not appear. When the decision was made, a preliminary investigation was underway regarding sexual abuse linked to the recordings of season fourteen.
Redid the format
Roberta Alenius, communications manager at Nent, told SVT News that there were no indications that any abuse had taken place during the filming of season fifteen. Despite this, they chose not to broadcast the final season.
Instead, the program’s format was changed, while the title was changed to Paradise.
In the new program, participants do not have to pair up with the opposite sex. There is no requirement to be single to apply for the program and the bedrooms have two single beds instead of a double bed. In addition, an age limit of 20 years has been introduced, as well as special rules regarding consent.
“Not feeling well at all”
Now reporting The Express that the rights to season fifteen have been sold to Pluto TV and that it will be broadcast in the spring of 2023. The participants of the affected season have been notified of the news in an email via a communications agency.
“As you know, season 15 was paused in the fall of 2021 due to the investigation connected to season 14. The investigation was closed and in the aftermath there was therefore an entire season 15 that was never broadcast. At the request of Pluto TV, season 15 is now being added to their platform,” says the email, which The Express have taken part in.
The email also offers a conversation with a psychologist.
Several participants express frustration and dismay at the decision:
“I’m not feeling well at all. I have moved on and created a new life. Now I feel like everything is going to crash. We have received information, but no question about how we feel,” says another person The Express.
“It’s terrible. It’s been over two years. I don’t stand by what I did two years ago,” says another.
A third says: “They made a good decision then not to air our season. But now they choose to sell it. It feels very strange, they don’t ask if it’s okay.”
