Haia bans women from reality show

RIYADH: Bedaya TV has banned women from attending the popular “Increase your account” reality show, following a directive by the Riyadh branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia).
Haia took the action against the TV channel after it was informed that a girl’s voice was audible when she called a participant and another girl climbed the walls of the village where the show was being filmed, sources were quoted as saying by local media on Saturday.
In a press statement, Abdulaziz Al-Areefi of the channel said he suspects the accuracy of claim that the girl climbed the walls of the village.
Sami Al-Jaouni, general supervisor of the program, reportedly announced an increase in the price of tickets allocated for women and admitted only men to the concluding episode of the program, which is scheduled for Feb. 15.
The “Increase your account” program asks a group of young men to stay in a village for three months to change themselves. The show focuses on job opportunities and ways to make a living in the Kingdom.
The program drew criticism, with calls to stop broadcasting the program because “it opens the doors of temptation.” However, the show enjoys high viewership in the Kingdom.