Turkish dating show contestant asked to leave after revealing he'd killed his wife and lover

A man who appeared on a Turkish television dating show in search of a new partner shocked the host and audience by revealing he had murdered his first wife and a subsequent lover. Sefer Çalınak, 62, casually told the host of Flash TV’s “Ne Çıkarsa Bahtına” (The Luck of the Draw) that he had served prison sentences for each of the murders and had been released under an amnesty programme, stressing that he was now an “honest person looking for a new wife.”

His first spouse was his cousin, Fadime, with whom he eloped when they were both aged 17, after the girl’s family tried to force her to marry a widower. The two lived together with Çalınak’s family for five months, but then things started to change, he said. “Her behaviour changed. The nephew of the man who wanted to marry her started to come to our village. I was jealous and I killed her, in a way,” Çalınak said.


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“I served my sentence. I was released after 4 years and 6 months with an amnesty, despite being given a 13 year, 9 month jail term in the first place,” he added. After being released from prison, Çalınak married another woman, with whom he had two children, but they eventually separated. He then had an affair with a woman who was already married and who had promised to divorce her husband for him, but Çalınak said she went back on her word. “I killed her after she attempted to kill me. She was accidently killed when I swung the axe,” he said.

After the second murder, Çalınak was sent to prison again, but later he was released in another amnesty. The host of the TV program asked Çalınak to leave after hearing the story, but he kept saying he was a victim of “destiny.” The head of the Media Monitoring Group (MEDİZ), Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, said a compliant should be filed against the programme, which she said should have checked the criminal records of the participant. Gözde Kurt, the show’s producer, said that before the programme Çalınak had said he murdered one person, and they allowed him to attend as he had served his legal sentence.