A contestant on a Turkish dating show stunned the programme’s host and the live audience when he said he was seeking a new partner because he had murdered his former wife and his lover.

Sefer Calinak, 62, told Flash TV's "Luck of the Draw" he had been sentenced to prison for both of the murders but was released under a government amnesty programme.

The episode made headlines in Turkish media following the revelations.

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"I'm an honest person looking for a new wife," he told the shocked host after admitting he had killed his first wife because she was “irritating” him.

He said he then murdered his second wife because he believed she was after his money.

Calinak claimed he was jailed for 13 years for murder of his first wife, but was released after four-and-a-half years.

Of his lover, he said: “I killed her after she attempted to kill me. She was accidentally killed when I swung an axe.”

He was then told to leave by the show’s host appalled host, prompting applause from the audience.

The head of Turkey's Media Monitoring Group, Hulya Ugur Tanriover, was quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as saying a complaint needed be filed against the programme for not checking the criminal records of particpants.