Married at First Sight Australia groom Collins Christian has lashed out at relationship expert John Aiken during the show's first commitment ceremony.
Christian has been under fire for his lack of affection with bride Natalie Parham. They became the first couple to leave the show, with Parham breaking down at the first Dinner Party and telling the other brides there had been "no romance" during their honeymoon.
They did rejoin the experiment, but other participants expressed concerns Christian was faking sadness.
When the pair met with the relationship experts, Aiken didn't hold back, asking Christian: "What affection have you showed Natalie?"
Christian admitted he did need to offer Parham more romance before taking a swipe at her saying her father's recent death had stopped her being present in the experiment.
"I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you," he clapped back at Aiken, saying: "You can't just put grief to the side, this is a huge, huge factor."
"John, let me tell you something..." he said, before Aiken shut him down.
"I haven't finished talking," Aiken said in response. "Let me be clear. You've never been in a relationship before and you are talking to me as if you're an expert."
Speaking exclusively to Newshub about the clash, Aiken said Christian's arrogance was misplaced.
"Their journey is a very interesting one. The thing with Collins is he's never been in a relationship before - ever. And so what you're seeing is a guy who's trying to navigate something which he has no experience to fall back on," Aiken said.
"So sometimes the things he says and does gets him into trouble. We've seen that over the years - people with zero relationship experience can really, get challenged by the tasks that they get thrown, in the experiment."
Full episodes of the current season of MAFS AU are streaming on ThreeNow and airing on Three at 7pm Sunday-Wednesday.
