Trailers for Sunday night’s Married At First Sight commitment ceremony showed groom David Cannon calling wife Hayley Vernon a “recovering drug addict”.
WATCH: Hayley breaks down after David’s cruel comment
But watching his comments play out in full was heartbreaking.
“Hayley is somebody who I have felt, for the most part, has been rude and inconsiderate, and not let me speak and finish,” the truck driver said angrily.
“Hayley can’t change her past with drugs… So I can let that slide. So here I am with a recovering drug addict who’s a smoker…”
Hayley has been open about her history of drug abuse; but while she’s unashamed of her past, it’s no surprise that David’s words still hurt the financial analyst, leaving her in tears.
“I’m not my past,” she retorted, sobbing, “and you’re saying it’s a bad thing you’ve been matched with me because of that.
“This situation has brought out the worst in me because it’s such high pressure, but for you to say ‘I’ve been matched with a recovering drug addict’? I’m a recovered drug addict,” she continued, obviously deeply hurt.
“I’m not that person anymore. I’ve done so much bloody work on myself to get to where I am today.”
After receiving a stern talking-to by relationship expert John Aiken, David looked embarrassed by his awful comment.
And rightly so, quite frankly.
But Hayley opened up even more, explaining that she wanted to use her time on reality TV to inspire hope among others who struggle with addiction.
“I learnt a lot about people and a lot about the world and a lot about who I am as a person,” she explained of her history of substance abuse.
“And I’m not ashamed by that.”
“The moments that I had back then defined who I am now,” she revealed. “I wouldn’t take that back.”
“A lot of Australian families are dealing with the same thing, and if I can come on here through MAFS and someone can see the situation – my Port Melbourne house, that I’m a finance broker, that I’ve got my s–t together – and they’ve got hope too, then it’s all well and good.”
Her speech was met with applause form her fellow MAFS participants, and an apology from David.
The commitment ceremony spat came after Hayley tried to get affectionate with David during the first dinner party just days earlier – though the groom wasn’t interested.
“He’s not what I would usually go for, but he’s a good egg,” she said in a piece to camera before taking him away for a private talk.
“He’s actually a really good dude.”
But David couldn’t match her feelings.
“I’m very surprised that she was being so affectionate,” he revealed.
“It made me really uncomfortable because I’m not there now.”
