Married At First Sight Australia expert Mel Schilling has shared a cruel update regarding her health.
The psychologist and television personality, who was first diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2023, has revealed the disease has now spread to her brain and “my oncology team have now told me there is nothing further they can do”.
In 2023, following her original diagnosis, Schilling underwent surgery to remove a tumour the size of a lemon and was given the all clear, however a few months later a routine scan detected nodules in her lungs and she was informed her cancer had metastasised.
Schilling says that with that prognosis “my world changed again in an instant”.
“Over the past two years, while filming MAFS, I underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy and was later told I was eligible for a groundbreaking clinical trial specific to my gene type, due to start in March 2026."
However, over Christmas she began experiencing blinding headaches and numbness down her right side.
Cruelly, Schilling’s symptoms were signs that the cancer had spread to the left side of her brain and she was terminally ill, “despite subsequent radiotherapy sessions, my oncology team have now told me there is nothing further they can do”.
Schilling, who lives in London with her husband, Gareth Brisbane, and daughter, Maddie, says she doesn’t know how long she has left, sharing that her “light is starting to fade — and quickly".
“But I am still here, still fighting, and surrounded by the most incredible love. Simple tasks have become incredibly difficult and I am relying on my beautiful family to look after me.”
Promising she would “fight to my last breath and will be surrounded by the love and support of my people”, the television star thanked fans for their kind thoughts.
“At the outset of this journey, so many of you sent the most wonderful messages of support. They have meant more than I can ever properly express and have helped shape the mindset I’ve needed to keep fighting.”
Nine, the television network that airs MAFS AU, said it was deeply saddened by the news regarding Schilling’s health, calling her a woman of “extraordinary depth, kindness, and an unshakeable spirit”.
“Mel’s honesty and her ability to face life’s hardest moments with such strength and openness is something we admire. She isn’t just a colleague; she is family.”
In February, Schilling announced she would no longer appear on the Australian televised social experiment, saying it was a heartfelt decision, and not one she’d made lightly.
“It has become clear that I must make a change that puts my family, health and time at the very centre of my life.”
Fellow MAFS AU expert John Aiken commented on her post announcing her departure from the show, saying it had been “Such a privilege to sit beside you Mel for a decade🙏"
Dr Trisha Stratford, who appeared on MAFS AU alongside Aiken and Schilling, died in 2023, aged 72.
Signing off the sombre update, the relationship expert had a final piece of advice to share, “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.”