As Married At First Sight star Mel Schilling gives a heartbreaking update about her health, the Mirror takes a look at her cancer journey behind the scenes, including the words that changed everything
A beloved TV presenter had one last hope that she might beat cancer before some devastating news.
As one of the faces of Married At First Sight, on the surface, Mel Schilling’s life appears to be the very picture of glamour. But behind the scenes, the dating coach has been navigating an extremely difficult cancer journey, with a recent update leaving fans distraught.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Mel revealed that her diagnosis is now terminal, with doctors telling her there was sadly nothing more they could do to treat her condition. Mel, who shares 10-year-old daughter Maddie with her husband, Gareth Brisbane, told her followers: “My light is starting to fade — and quickly. But I am still here, still fighting, and surrounded by the most incredible love.”
The Aussie TV star, who was misdiagnosed on two occasions, first began to realise something was wrong when she began to experience severe stomach pain and found she couldn’t eat or even use the bathroom. In December 2023, Mel, 54, was diagnosed with colon cancer, with a scan revealing a “tumour the size of a lemon”.
While the tumour, which Mel nicknamed ‘Terry’, was successfully removed, this was just the start of the mum-of-one’s ordeal, and in February 2024, during a routine scan, small nodules were detected on her lung. The cancer had metastasised.
READ MORE: Mel Schilling: Colon cancer symptoms after she was misdiagnosed twice
Gruelling treatment
In her recent post, Mel recalled how her “world changed again in an instant” when she was diagnosed. In the two years that followed, Mel underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy, all while continuing to film for MAFS, in a bid to still feel like herself and maintain some normality. While to viewers, Mel seemed just as cheerful and well put together as ever, the realities of working as a person with cancer proved to be extremely challenging.
Back in January 2025, during a candid interview with OK! magazine, Mel divulged: “There were definitely times when I came off set, and I was in tears, or I was vomiting. It was hard.” Although Mel and her family usually enjoy watching the series back, during her final seasons, this proved to be a “bittersweet” experience.
Mel, who worked alongside fellow experts Charlene Douglas and Paul C. Brunson to match singletons, “I found it tough to watch back on TV. It was bittersweet because I didn’t look or sound like myself. I noticed that I wasn’t speaking up or giving things my full attention. I didn’t have that energy. Gareth found it tough, too. He was like, ‘It just isn’t you’. I think it was the first time we realised I actually looked sick.”
Thankfully, Mel, who first joined the hit dating experiment show in 2016, received plenty of “wonderful” support on set. Speaking with the Mirror in 2024, she said: “I was going through chemo the whole time we were filming the UK series. The team was just crowding around me to give me as much flexibility and support as they possibly could. They really cared for me. It wasn’t easy, but it was so wonderful to be able to work because it enabled me to still feel like me.”
Crushed optimism
Just a couple of months ago, self-professed “eternal optimist” Mel had remained hopeful that there was light at the end of the tunnel, after being informed she was eligible for “a groundbreaking clinical trial specific to [her] gene type.” The trial was scheduled for March 2026 and, according to Mel, “Once again, my optimism soared that I might beat this thing.”
Sadly, things took a turn over Christmas when Mel began suffering “blinding headaches“, as well as numbness along my right side. Mel penned: “After many tests, I was told the cancer had spread to the left side of my brain and, despite subsequent radiotherapy sessions, my oncology team have now told me there is nothing further they can do.”
Reflecting on how “hearing those words changes everything”, Mel offered a piece of advice to followers, urging: “If I could leave you with one thing, it would simply be this: if something doesn’t feel right, please get it checked out. It might just save your life.”
‘Cheerleader’ daughter
In this same interview, Mel opened up about how she was supported behind the scenes by her “cheerleader” daughter Maddie, and expressed sorrow over the ordinary parenting moments she’d missed out on account of her illness. She remembered: “Maddie understood enough when I was having chemo, and she knew I’d be very emotional in the days following it. I’d have a lot of tears and difficulty walking at times. So she was definitely aware.
“But it was hard. I remember one time, she came running into my bedroom to show me a dance that she’d made up – chip off the old block. But I didn’t even have the energy to watch her dance, and that just broke my heart, because we bond over things like that, and I just couldn’t.”
Mel’s relationship with her young daughter is all the more poignant given the TV star’s complicated path to motherhood. Speaking previously with Woman’s Day in February 2022, she reflected: “I didn’t think I was going to be a mum. I was single for my entire 30s, and having a baby wasn’t even on my radar until it was almost too late!” A harrowing miscarriage at the age of 40 made Mel realise just how much she wanted a child, and she and Gareth went on to welcome Maddie through IVF.
Supportive husband
Mel has previously praised her Northern Irish husband, Gareth, for being her rock throughout her ongoing health issues. The couple first met on a dating website eHarmony, back when Mel was a 39-year-old long-term singleton. They tied the knot in 2018 with an intimate Bali wedding, and have made a home for themselves in London, with Mel dividing her time between the UK and Oz for MAFS duties.
She said: “I can’t imagine getting through this process without him. He really stepped in and took a lot of things off my plate. Even small decisions like what I’m going to have for lunch became tough, but he intuitively knew to help.”
Mel also emphasised just how much the love of her husband and daughter meant to her in her recent Instagram post, which includes a snap of the family embracing by a Christmas tree.
Describing Gareth and Maddie as her “everything”, she wrote: “Simple tasks have become incredibly difficult, and I am relying on my beautiful family to look after me. I honestly don’t know how long I have left, but I do know I will fight to my last breath and will be surrounded by the love and support of my people.”
For more information or support about cancer, you can contact Macmillan Cancer Support or you can call 020 7940 1760 for advice.
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com. For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTube and Threads.
READ MORE: Mel Schilling’s MAFS replacement revealed after terminal cancer diagnosis
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