Married at First Sight star Luke Worley has lost an unfair dismissal case against his former employers after he disappeared from work in order to appear on a Channel 4 dating show.
Luke Worley alleged he was sacked unfairly by network operator EE when he was fired for taking unauthorised time off to appear on ‘The Language of Love’ with Davina McCall.
In 2021 Mr Worley, then a store manager in Basildon, Essex, jetted off to Spain to film the show – but it has emerged Mr Worley did so despite not being given permission by his boss.
Unwilling to let the ‘opportunity’ of a reality TV career pass him by, Mr Worley got on the plane to Spain anyway – and was sacked upon his return. He went on to appear on Married At First Sight in 2023 but was removed after a physical altercation.
Tribunal documents reveal Mr Worley was the store manager of the phone shop in Basildon, Essex, at the time and was not given permission to take leave to go and film the programme in Spain.
It put English and Spanish singletons together to see if they could develop an attraction despite not speaking each other’s native tongue – and garnered controversy for its inclusion of a transgender contestant.
Married At First Sight star Luke Worley has lost an employment tribunal against his old bosses at EE who sacked him after he went to Spain to film another reality show
Luke as he was seen on Married at First Sight last year – before he was removed after a physical altercation with another contestant
He appeared on Channel 4 series The Language of Love with other British and Spanish singletons – the twist being that the contestants could not speak each other’s tongue
Luke Worley (right) as he was on The Language of Love, which was filmed in September 2021 and aired the following January
Tribunal judges said there was no ‘legitimate’ reason for Mr Worley’s absence after he asked for the time off and then proceeded to take it – despite being told it was not being approved.
The tribunal heard his bid for time off was refused by manager Paul Redhead, who told him the three weeks of time off were refused after ‘careful consideration’ due to the potential impact on the store, team, region, and wider business.
It was a key time for a business, at the point Apple was launching its new iPhone 13 range of smartphones – a time of big business for any phone shop.
The tribunal, heard in East London, was told Mr Worley had worked for EE since 2018, and had booked a week off at the start of, and end of, September 2021.
But after being offered the chance to appear on the show hosted by Davina and Spanish TV presenter Ricky Merino, he was told he ‘had to be free’ between September 13 and September 22.
He requested this time off but his application was ‘refused’ by Mr Redhead.
A phone call followed days later in which Mr Worley spoke of how he ‘would still be taking the opportunity to appear on the reality TV show and would face any consequences on his return to work’.
Mr Redhead then said in a follow-up email to the would-be reality star: ‘I appreciate your honesty in coming forward to make the request and subsequently your desire to continue with the opportunity you have been presented, as our call last week any unauthorised leave if it does occur will lead to an investigation.’
Mr Worley did not reply to the email – and on September 13 he did not show up at work or inform his bosses that he would be off.
After further attempts to make contact, Mr Redhead emailed the manager to inform him that he the absence was unauthorised and he was regarded as being ‘AWOL’ from that date.
Employment Judge Stephen Shore said: ‘This case arises from an offer that [Mr Worley] received to appear on a reality TV show.’
He found Mr Worley had no ‘legitimate’ reason for his absence, which the MAFS star tried to categorise as a ‘misunderstanding’. This claim was branded ‘incredible’ by EJ Shore.
The Lnguage of Love was hosted by Davina McCall and Spanish TV presenter and singer Ricky Merino
The EE store in Basildon, Essex where Luke Worley worked before he jetted off to film the Channel 4 reality show
Upon his return from Spain, Mr Worley was invited to a disciplinary hearing on October 7 in which he was dismissed. The show then aired in January 2022.
Mr Worley tried to sue EE for unfair dismissal, breach of contact, and disability discrimination – but they were all dismissed.
Judge Shore said the reason for Mr Worley’s dismissal was gross misconduct in that he took more than six days’ unauthorised absence.
‘We find that (Mr Worley’s) assertion that, as a general principle of employment law, any employee of any company can tell their employer that they will not be coming into work because it doesn’t suit them to do so, if they give reasonable notice and do not expect to be paid for the time off, is incredible,’ the judge added.
The panel ruled that Mr Worley said in a phone call with his line manager that he would ‘take the leave anyway’.
‘All the panel have experience of managing people and find it highly unlikely that a manager with the experience of [Mr Worley] would not have known that an employee who had been refused leave could then take the period of leave requested as unpaid leave without the authority of their manager, as [Mr Worley] did,’ Judge Shore said.
Mr Worley also tried to claim disability discrimination for his dyslexia and insisted this impacted his ability to understand EE’s AWOL policy.
But, the tribunal found that the reality TV star’s diagnosis came from a report which was not medical, or carried out by anyone with the relevant qualifications.
Mr Worley claimed that a ‘fire at his home’ had ‘destroyed his personal medical records that may have supported his case at face value’.
Concluding the judgement, Judge Shore said: ‘[Mr Worley] did not have a legitimate reason for absence.
‘We find that [Mr Worley] was capable of reading, understanding, and following the AWOL Policy.’
Mr Worley previously went viral after accidentally FaceTiming TV presenter Maya Jama
He had been given her number by mistake after a woman he met on holiday wrote down a fake phone number
Mr Worley appeared on Channel 4’s Married At First Sight UK last year, but was removed from the show in October after an altercation with another contestant, Jordan Gayle.
In 2021, he went viral after being given a fake phone number by a woman he met on holiday – and it turned out to belong to TV presenter Maya Jama.
He branded the surprise digital encounter ‘absolutely mental’, and later told local paper the Daily Gazette: ‘It was a surreal moment and I was nearly speechless.
‘She was great though and we had a short conversation about the Euros show she does on the BBC with Peter Crouch and then said our goodbyes.’
He later told the same paper about his appearance on The Language of Love: ‘When I spoke to the casting agent she said my personality is made for television and two days later I found myself in London at the office of a production company.
‘I remember saying love is the only thing missing in my life and that I want someone to come home to after a long day at work.
‘To be honest I didn’t stop talking and they were all laughing at me and the next day I got a call saying they loved me and wanted me on the show.
‘I was genuinely shocked as you don’t normally see “normal” looking people on these dating shows.’
