MAFS Expert Mel Schilling Departs Australian Series to Focus on Health and Family
A beloved fixture on Australia’s Married At First Sight is stepping down from her role, marking the end of an era for the popular reality dating show. Mel Schilling, a key expert on the series for an impressive 12 seasons, has announced her heartfelt decision to leave the Australian production.
Schilling shared the news via an Instagram post, explaining that the demanding nature of filming, which often required her to spend significant time away from her family in the UK, was no longer sustainable. This decision comes in the wake of her personal health journey, including a diagnosis and treatment for colon cancer.
“After 12 extraordinary seasons, I have made the heartfelt decision to step away from my role as an expert on Married at First Sight Australia,” Schilling wrote in her announcement. “This hasn’t been a choice I’ve made lightly. In recent years, my health challenges and living in the UK spending up to three months a year away from my family is no longer sustainable. It has become clear that I must make a change that puts my family, health and time at the very centre of my life.”
While her departure from the Australian series is a significant change, Schilling reassured fans that she is not saying goodbye to the MAFS franchise entirely. She confirmed her commitment to the British version of the show, stating, “Stepping away from the Australian series is the right move for my future, though I look forward to continuing my work with Married at First Sight UK. Thank you for being part of this chapter with me.”
The announcement has been met with an outpouring of support from her colleagues and past participants. Fellow experts John Aiken and Alessandra Rampolla expressed their admiration and well wishes.
“Such a privilege to sit beside you Mel for a decade, onwards my friend to new beginnings. Big love,” commented John Aiken. Alessandra Rampolla echoed the sentiment with a warm, “So much love, Chica!”
Alumni of the show also shared their emotional responses. Domenica Calarco, a popular participant from a previous season, expressed her gratitude for Schilling’s kindness during her time on the show, stating, “Mel, I will never forget your kindness to me during some of my toughest moments in the experiment. You will be missed, the show won’t be the same without you.” Jules Robinson also shared a touching message, saying, “Awwwww Mel. So emotional watching that. Love you xxx.”
The question of who will fill Schilling’s vacant seat on the expert couch remains unanswered. After 12 years of providing candid advice and observations, her presence will undoubtedly be missed.
Mel Schilling’s Personal Health Journey
The 54-year-old expert’s decision to step back is deeply intertwined with her recent battle with colon cancer. She publicly shared her diagnosis just before Christmas in 2023, detailing her journey through surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy for stage three colon cancer.
Despite her health challenges, Schilling continued her work on MAFS Australia, though she admitted to not feeling like her usual self during that demanding period.
Schilling has spoken about the support from her family. Image: Instagram/mel_schilling1.
Schilling has been candid about the difficulties of navigating her diagnosis, describing each day as progressively more challenging. “It’s getting tough now,” she told The Mirror in May 2024. “I’m about halfway through and it’s getting hard. Feeling fatigued and nauseous is a bigger part of my everyday life. It feels like I’m hungover or pregnant every day, which is not fun.”
Initially, Schilling attributed her symptoms to jet lag and the demanding travel schedule between filming MAFS Australia and the UK. “The last quarter of 2023, I was in Australia filming MAFS and there was a crossover with filming in the UK so I had to fly back and forth,” she explained. “That was hard because it’s a long flight, so you’ve got the tiredness and the jet lag and I’m 52! My body was complaining about all the long-haul flights and I thought that’s all it was.”
However, rapid weight loss and significant digestive issues soon became alarming. “My digestive system packed to a halt and I started having stomach pain. I wasn’t paying attention to my body because I was so busy. I’m a big foodie and I noticed something was really wrong when I couldn’t eat anything or even hold down a cup of tea.”
Upon returning home, she realised the severity of her condition. “Once I got home, I realised I hadn’t eaten anything in around a week and I hadn’t been to the toilet in three weeks. I’d lost over a stone in weight and I was on a liquid diet by this point. I wasn’t even aware of how much I had lost, so things were serious. But I never thought it would be cancer.”
Advocating for Bowel Cancer Awareness
Beyond her personal experience, Schilling has become a vocal advocate for destigmatising bowel cancer discussions. She passionately believes in the importance of open conversation, stating, “I want to get people talking about this and remove the ridiculous stigma we talk about other bodily functions. We talk about boobs all the time when it comes to breast cancer. Let’s talk about poo as well.”
Despite the fatigue associated with her treatment, Schilling revealed in an interview with Heart Breakfast that she was managing well and felt fortunate to not be experiencing hair loss. “I’m doing well. So, this is currently a week off in my chemo cycles, which is why I’ve got quite a lot of energy today. I’m doing well. Thank you,” she shared. She noted that her specific type of chemotherapy didn’t cause severe sickness or hair loss, with side effects like tingly fingers and sensitivity to cold being more prominent.
Schilling resides in the UK with her husband and daughter. The move and the commencement of chemotherapy happened concurrently, a testament to her “do it all at once” approach. Her husband, Gareth, has been instrumental in managing the household during this challenging period.
Remission and a Message of Hope
In a significant update in 2025, Schilling announced that she was officially in remission, describing herself as feeling “strong and healthy.” The relief, she explained to OK! Magazine, was immense. “When I was told I was in remission, it was like my shoulders dropped and I finally allowed myself to feel it,” she said. “It’s like I’d been holding my breath for a year, telling myself, ‘It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay’ — and now I could finally just breathe.”
The Initial Discovery of Cancer
The journey to her diagnosis began in December 2023 when Schilling started noticing unusual bodily changes. The persistent stomach pain and unexplained weight loss were red flags for the dating expert. “My digestive system packed to a halt and I started having stomach pain. I wasn’t paying attention to my body because I was so busy. I’m a big foodie and I noticed something was really wrong when I couldn’t eat anything or even hold down a cup of tea,” she recounted.
Her initial consultation with a GP in Sydney suggested constipation, leading to a prescription for laxatives. However, Schilling’s intuition told her something more serious was at play. “Fortunately I knew something still wasn’t right so I booked in for a scan when I returned to the UK. On Thursday I was told I had colon cancer and in an instant my whole life changed.”
The diagnosis meant her planned Christmas in Northern Ireland was replaced with hospital preparations. She was scheduled for surgery to remove a 5cm tumour, a discovery that saved her life. “Tomorrow morning I’m checking in to hospital to have an operation to remove a 5cm tumour in my colon, a tumour that had it gone undetected for much longer would have killed me,” she shared.
Schilling expressed gratitude for the “relatively easy to eradicate” nature of her cancer and anticipated a full recovery, despite the arduous road ahead. She affectionately named her tumour “Terry” and saw its removal as the “best present of all,” even if it meant spending Christmas Day in hospital. She concluded with a powerful message to others: “If something doesn’t feel right, please, please don’t ignore it and if you don’t think the answers you have got are right, keep going until you do, it might just save your life.”
Following her surgery, Schilling provided another positive update, confirming the successful removal of the tumour via keyhole surgery. “Yesterday lunchtime I had keyhole surgery to remove my tumour (AKA Terry) and in the words of my amazing surgeon it couldn’t have gone any better,” she posted on Instagram. Crucially, the cancer was localised to her colon and had not spread to her abdominal cavity, a significant relief. She indicated that a treatment plan would be discussed, but the outlook was optimistic: “Terry is toast!”
In a recent appearance on Lorraine, Schilling reiterated her plea for people to seek medical advice for any changes in bowel habits, stressing that bowel cancer is “not an old person’s disease anymore.” She urged, “So I think my message is, if you’re having symptoms, if you’re noticing a change in your bowel habits, let’s not be scared to talk about it anymore — it’s just poo.”
