‘Married at First Sight’: David and Madison Grapple With Fallout From ‘Grimy’ Cheating Scandal

The truth has come out. After David and Madison finally came clean about their sketchy relationship in last week’s episode of Married at First Sight, both have to deal with the consequences of their deception – and explain themselves to the show’s disappointed experts. 

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Feb. 18 episode of Married at First Sight Season 18.] 

The ‘Married at First Sight’ cast takes sides in David and Madison drama

After the shocking revelation that Madison and David had developed feelings for each other despite being married to other people, the rest of the MAFS cast is taking sides. Unsurprisingly, the group is firmly Team Allen and Team Michelle. 

Thomas confessed that he felt “let down” by David, whom he’d previously defended. “I kind of feel foolish for stepping out there to his defense and sticking up for him when clearly it’s not what I thought it was,” he tells his wife, Camille. 

Juan was slightly more sympathetic, but he still had some blunt words for David . 

“The way you guys did it was the f***ed up thing,” he said when he and David chatted the morning after all the drama went down. “You got to own up to it, he said, adding that David owes Allen an apology. 

“Dude, he trusted you,” Juan pointed out. 

As for a possible future with Madison, Juan thinks that David should follow his heart. But he’s not optimistic it will work out. 

“Man, you guys are starting out on a bad note,” he said. “Listen, there was a big part of me yesterday that was like, dude, I don’t know how I can be around these people. Because it was very disappointing dude. Like, what are you guys doing?”

Karla says she can’t still be friends with Madison 

Meanwhile, Madison tried to share her side of the story with Camille and Karla. (Michelle had bailed on the couples’ retreat the night before, along with Emem, who’d been blindsided when Ikechi presented her with divorce papers at dinner.) The other wives weren’t a particularly sympathetic audience. 

Karla called out Madison for not being honest when Michelle shared her concerns about her marriage with the other wives. 

“There should have been an honest conversation … I would never cross that boundary of stepping into someone else’s relationship in any way,” she said, adding that she sees Madison’s lack of honesty as a betrayal of not just her marriage to Allen but also her friendships with the rest of the cast. 

“It’s really tough. It’s uncomfortable, it’s awkward,” Karla said. “This is f***ed up and this is like, grimy, dude. Like, dirty. It affects the group and the way that we all hang out.”

“There’s a trust level that’s been broken,” she added. “At this place where I am in my life, I wouldn’t want to surround myself with women that [over]step that boundary in a relationship.”

The ‘MAFS’ experts are ‘personally upset’ with David and Madison’s ‘unprecedented’ behavior 

At the end of the episode, Madison and David sat down for a talk with the show’s trio of experts about their behavior, which Dr. Pia Holec pointed out is “unprecedented” in the show’s history.  

“I would be lying to you if I said we weren’t personally upset,” Dr. Pepper Schwartz said. “And so it’s extremely important that we get the truth.” 

Pastor Cal Roberson cut right to the chase, asking if they’d been intimate with each other. Madison and David vehemently denied any physical contact other than hugging, but the MAFS experts weren’t buying it, especially given the “very sexual” nature of David’s text message that mistakenly went to his wife. 

“I’m sorry. I can’t sit here and pretend like this isn’t what it is,” Dr. Pia said to David. “I just can’t. So I have to call you out right her, right now, when you’re lying about having an intimate sexual relationship with her.”

But even if Madison and David haven’t acted on their attraction to each other, it’s still a problem, Pastor Cal said, since they’ve strayed from the emotional bonds of their marriage. 

“We understand feelings,” he said. “But there’s a proper way to do things. This wasn’t it.”

So, are Madison and David ready to jump into a relationship? He’s “smitten” and sees a future with her, but she’s not so sure. 

“I do see something with David that could be there, but it’s not something that I want to rush into,” she said. “…Only time will tell.”

Married at First Sight airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime. 

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