Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling is being remembered as a guiding force and a loving, committed and loyal mother, wife and coworker. She has died aged 54, leaving behind her husband Gareth Brisbane and 11-year-old daughter Madison.
Brisbane shared the news on Instagram on Tuesday night, weeks after Schilling announced her cancer had spread to her brain and that her “light” was “starting to fade”.
“In her final moments, when I thought cancer had taken away her ability to speak, she ushered me closer and whispered a message for Maddie and me that will sustain me for the rest of my life,” Brisbane wrote. “It took all of her remaining strength, and that gesture summed up our wee Melsie perfectly. Even then, her only thought was for Maddie and me.”
Schilling’s co-stars on the Married At First Sight expert panel, Alessandra Rampolla and John Aiken, shared tributes to their colleague on Instagram.
Rampolla said she felt grateful to have been able to see Schilling for the last time last week, to “look you in the eyes, to hold your hand, and to say the things that truly mattered”.
“My heart is shattered,” Rampolla said. “You were so much more than a colleague. You were a constant, a guiding force, and to me, someone I admired and learned from — like a big sister, a woman of immense heart, wisdom and generosity.
“You welcomed me from the very beginning and made me feel at home in a space that could have felt overwhelming, always kind and generous with your light. That is who you were.”
“I am heartbroken, devastated and finding it hard to breathe,” Aiken said. “She came into my life 10 years ago and together we rode this [Married at First Sight] juggernaut, being there for one another through it all. Nothing could prepare us for what lay ahead, but she was always in the foxhole with me.
“And through all of these years, she was an amazing mother and wife. She was loving, committed, loyal, fun and so very, very kind … It’s not fair that my partner in crime is gone. She was one of the good ones.
“I am unravelling just thinking about it. I wanted to sit on our couch together forever. She knew my rhythms and I knew hers. But it’s simply not to be.”
One previous Married At First Sight contestant, Michael Brunelli, who met his wife Martha Kalifatidis on the show (and recently welcomed their second baby), said the couple would always be grateful for Schilling’s “caring support” of them throughout the show.
“Rest in peace, Mel,” Brunelli said. “Thank you for everything you did for Martha and I. We’ll talk about you when our kids ask how we met.”
Fellow reality TV presenter Sophie Monk also shared words underneath an Instagram post about Schilling’s death.
“How heartbreaking,” Monk said. “Sending so much love to everyone around her. Such a beautiful light.”
MAFS is broadcast by Nine, the owner of this masthead.
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