Channel 9
After getting along famously at their wedding, Married At First Sight couple David Cannon and Hayley Vernon seemed to be onto a good thing.
WATCH: Hayley makes a stunning admission to her new husband.
But the romance quickly died once the pair got to their honeymoon.
Though some may have expected Hayley’s history of her drug abuse to throw her new beau, her reveal didn’t worry him.
“I’m not dating someone from five years ago,” he said.
“I’m glad she told me. I don’t want secrets with my wife. It doesn’t faze me. Her past doesn’t affect her future.”
“If I think back to myself five years ago, I’m nowhere near the same person. So I don’t judge Hayley on her drug use.”
The trouble started after Hayley apparently told David:
“Your $25 an hour wage is not going to cut it for me.”
Which, for obvious reasons, the truck driver found hurtful.
“It’s the lowest I’ve ever earned but I’m by far the happiest,” he told her, feeling the need to justify his vocation.
“It’s not that earning $25 an hour is a worry for me or a concern for me,” Hayley shot back.
“I just never want to have to live paycheque to paycheque, because I’ve been in a situation where I haven’t had money. I’ve been in a situation where I’ve had to go foodless, so I never want to be in that situation again.”
Then the finance broker walked away, admitting she was annoyed that he’d even mentioned it.
After some time apart, the pair tried to enjoy a romantic dinner – but the mounting tension was hard to miss.
And when they were presented with the Honeymoon Box – a collection of questions to ask each other to “slow things down”, said the experts – that resentment came to the fore.
“What’s something you’ve never been told before?” Hayley asked.
After making a joke about his height, Hayley asked him to look a little deeper.
“Well… you asked for it…” he said tentatively.
“I’ve never had anybody before comment on my hourly wage.”
“This is obviously a really sore point for me,” explained David, who was clearly upset that Hayley had shut down their chat earlier without acknowledging his feelings.
But before the whole thing could spiral any further, Hayley insisted she hadn’t actually said what he remembered, that she didn’t care what he earned, and shut it down again, saying:
“Anyway next question, I don’t want to discuss it anymore.”
“Do you see yourself falling in love with me?” she asked her obviously upset TV husband.
“Right at this present moment?” he replied. “I’m struggling.”
Things became even more intense when Hayley asked if she was what he expected, and David brought up her smoking – which he had said was a deal breaker.
“I’m not a full-time smoker, that’s not me, but whatever will be will be,” she retorted angrily, after David pointed out that she’d apparently agreed not to smoke anymore.
“I couldn’t give a f–k. It’s absolute utter nonsense.”
And with that, she walked out, leaving David in shock.
“Hayley didn’t like that I’ve brought up some real and raw issues,” David later told producers, requesting a hotel room of his own.
“But instead of addressing the issue as adults, she stormed out. I’ve never met someone so inconsiderate in my whole entire life.
“I’m actually at the point where if I was handed a ticket to the airport, I would run to the airport until my feet bled. I would sprint,” he said as he packed his bags and moved into a solo suite.
