To be honest I think it comes down to personal taste. Some may see him as a sex symbol while others don't and that's cool.
In this regard David reminds me a lot of Tim Dormer from last season. They both made repeated comments that got people offside. While some think beneath the poor comments there's a genuinely good person, others will think the comments are a pure reflection of who that person is (a dick). It's the exact same thing I saw happening with Tim last season, including the "no wonder he's still single at 30" comments.
I also see the same categories of response to him as I did to Tim in terms of attractiveness:
- You've got your "I love him, he's amazing, I'd date him on the outside...how has nobody picked him up yet" group.
- You've got your "I can't believe he says the things he does. What a dick. No wonder he's single" group.
- You've also got your group that enjoy the HM in the context of the show but don't even consider what it would be like dating them in the real world because honestly that ain't going to happen so there's no point even thinking about it.
I'm in the third group with David and I was in the third group with Tim as well. I don't think there's anything wrong with being in any group though and I don't find it laughable that some would see Dave as sexy. Different strokes and all that jazz.