A Melbourne marriage expert says Married At First Sight promotes abusive relationships and should come with a warning.

The Channel Nine program set itself a record last night, attracting an average audience of 2.27 million around the country and peaking at 2.8 million, according to Nine.

But the controversial TV show is increasingly coming under fire for the behaviour its contestants.

Among the critics are Paul Pattison, director of the Melbourne Separation and Divorce Mediation Centre, who told Neil Mitchell the prime-time program sent bad messages to both young and heartbroken viewers.

“What Channel Nine are doing is trying to turn family violence or domestic violence into a form of entertainment, and that’s not what I would expect us to be conveying to our community,” he said.

“It’s almost implying that to be abusive or foul-mouthed or that infidelity or whatever is acceptable.

“Some people are vulnerable. When you’re going through separation and divorce you can be very vulnerable.”

Click PLAY to hear the full conversation, including for a Mr Pattison’s suggestion of a warning system

Mr Pattison’s criticism comes after similar comments from leading psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg.