Leandro Marçal denies rape accusation and says Netflix did not include his defense in the program

Personal trainer Leandro Marçal, a participant in the reality show Casamento às Cegas Brasil, spoke out this Sunday (14) after being accused of rape by Ingrid Santa Rita. He denied the accusations and said he “never committed the acts that were attributed to him by her”, with whom he claimed to have had a “brief romantic relationship”.

Ingrid and Leandro got married during the show. In the reunion episode, aired last Wednesday (10), the architect hinted that she had been abused by her husband at home after the wedding. A day later, the participant went on social media and verbalized the rape accusation.

In a video posted on Instagram, she claims that the personal trainer had erectile problems. “The rape, that’s the word, started happening when I talked to him. Leandro waited for me to fall asleep to try to solve the problem. In his head, if he could have sex with me, we wouldn’t have any problems anymore, but he forgot that he needed to tell me, it needed to be consensual,” she said.

The São Paulo Civil Police opened an investigation into the case. According to the Public Security Department, the case was registered as rape of a vulnerable person, psychological violence against women and domestic violence at the Women’s Defense Department in Osasco.

Marçal denied the accusation. “Such facts, which, surprisingly, were reported in the recording of the episode ‘the reunion’ that took place on 07/07/24, do not match the always consensual exchanges we had during the marriage,” he said in an official note published on Instagram.

He also said that Netflix and Endemol Shine Brasil, responsible for the reality show, edited the reunion episode so that his defense against the accusations was not shown. He says he “silenced” Santa Rita’s statements on the program — which, according to him, is not true — and that, for this reason, he will take “appropriate legal action.”

O F5 contacted Netflix, which did not comment on Marçal’s statement until the publication of this report.

On Friday (12), the company had released a statement: “Netflix, Endemol Shine Brasil and the Blind Marriage Brazil team vehemently repudiate any type of violence. The production, in all its stages, is conducted with constant professional support to the participants, and the complaints presented are being investigated by the competent bodies.”

According to Marçal, his legal team will take all legal measures “in the face of this slander, defamation and insult”.

He also expressed regret over the accusations, which he called slanderous, and stressed that he had always respected Santa Rita.