{"id":536710,"date":"2026-03-13T01:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536710\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T01:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:11:09","slug":"married-at-first-sight-expert-mel-schilling-reveals-terminal-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536710\/","title":{"rendered":"Married at First Sight expert Mel Schilling reveals terminal cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mel Schilling, a public figure best known for her role in Nine reality show Married at First Sight, says her cancer has spread to the left side of her brain.<\/p>\n

In a post on Instagram, Schilling said her oncology team told her “there’s nothing further they can do”.<\/p>\n

“Hearing those words changes everything,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

“My light is starting to fade \u2014 and quickly.<\/p>\n

“But I am still here, still fighting, and surrounded by the most incredible love.”<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old was first diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2023.<\/p>\n

At the time, she told her social media followers that she had surgery to remove a 5-centimetre tumour<\/a> and was given the all-clear.<\/p>\n

But in late February 2024, a routine scan revealed there were small nodules in her lungs.<\/p>\n

The cancer had metastasised, and for the past two years, Schilling has undergone 16 rounds of chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

“I was later told I was eligible for a groundbreaking clinical trial specific to my gene type, due to start in March 2026,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

But Schilling said her health took another turn for the worse over Christmas, when she started to experience “blinding headaches and numbness” down one side of her body.<\/p>\n

MAFS star reveals severe stomach cramps were being caused by colon cancer<\/a><\/p>\n

Mel Schilling says she originally thought her stomach was hurting because she’d been travelling so much, but knew something “still wasn’t right”.<\/p>\n

Further tests revealed the cancer had spread to her brain, and subsequent radiotherapy sessions weren’t working.<\/p>\n

Schilling says everyday tasks have become increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n

“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,” she said.<\/p>\n

Schilling first joined MAFS in Australia in 2016 and later on the UK version of the show, but announced last month that she was stepping away from the Australian show to prioritise her family and health.<\/p>\n

At the time, her MAFS colleague John Aiken wrote on Instagram that it was a “privilege to experience all [the show] this with such a beautiful human being”.<\/p>\n

It’s not known whether he knew why Schilling was leaving the show, but on her most recent cancer diagnosis post, Aiken said he was “devastated” by the news.<\/p>\n

“I’m hugging you now, and I’m not letting go,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

The Australian dating coach ended her post by thanking fans who have supported her and encouraged people to be proactive about their health.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mel Schilling, a public figure best known for her role in Nine reality show Married at First Sight,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,37689,266180,266179,108353,266150,266184,266183,266181,266182,427],"class_list":["post-536710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-mafs","tag-mafs-expert-mel-schilling","tag-mafs-mel-schilling","tag-married-at-first-sight","tag-mel-schilling","tag-mel-schilling-bowel-cancer","tag-mel-schilling-brain-cancer","tag-mel-schilling-cancer","tag-mel-schilling-cancer-diagnosis","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}