"She can't change her past with drugs, and I accept that, so I can let that slide. But here I am with a recovering drug addict that's a smoker," he concluded.
Sobbing uncontrollably and visibly shaken up by his judgemental remarks, Hayley responded, "Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that. I'm a recovered drug addict.
"I'm not my past. You're saying it like it's a bad thing that you've been matched with me because of that. I am such a good egg— this situation has brought out the worst in me because it has been such high pressure. But for you to say that. I am a recovered drug addict and the [experts] can attest to that. I've done so much work on myself to get to where I am today."
The row quickly became so intense, relationship counsellor John even had to intervene, later reprimanding David for his shocking outburst.
"David, this is for you. Hayley has in the past had issues with substances. In the past, but not now. She is someone who was very resilient, just like you, who had a huge amount of time for personal growth and development," he said. "You can't judge her by her past. She is not chained by it."
Unsurprisingly, David's nasty comments sparked outrage among this year's contestants and MAFS viewers alike, with many fans of the dating experiment calling for the groom to be "cancelled" and booted off the show.
"David can f**k right off," one angry viewer Tweeted. "Any sympathy I had for him is gone."
"That confessional of David saying he HOPED there'd be a chance to air her dirty laundry? Massive yikes."
"He should be ashamed of himself terrible comment she has tried so hard to get where she is and deserves some respect," a separate viewer also commented on Married At First Sight's official Instagram page.
"I don't like her much but she doesn't deserve that."
While David later backtracked after his co-stars literally shook their heads at him, we already know how he really feels about Hayley, admitting in a tell-all confessional obtained that he still believes she's "using drugs".
"Her idea of being a reformed drug addict is her turning around and saying she doesn't do any hard drugs... but still smokes weed," David said in the 11-minute clip which was obtained by New Idea exclusively.
"And then she said, 'I don't mind having a cheeky line now and again.' That's someone who is still an addict. They've matched me with a smoking drug addict who is so inconsiderate and rude."
Despite admitting Hayley gave David a number of reasons to question her sobriety throughout the dating experiment, she insists any suggestion she has an ongoing drug problem is completely false.
"There’s been an article come out where David says I might not be as clean as what I’m saying," said the furious finance broker who has been open about her debilitating, decade long drug dependency.
"He can say whatever the f*** he wants... but the absolute truth is, I was blood tested halfway between the filming and before I got on the filming. For a period of eight-to-nine weeks, I was getting drug tested."
