Married at First Sight Expert Mel Schilling has shared an exciting update on her health as she gears up for the new season of MAFS.
The relationship expert, who was diagnosed with colon cancer late last year, took to Instagram with a video message for her fans.
“So here I am in Sydney, Bondi to be specific. The gorgeous Bondi Beach and this is now my home for the next couple of months,” she said. “Just had a gorgeous month with my family here in Australia. My hubby and daughter came out with me for the first month of my filming journey here, and they’ve just returned to the UK, so it’s very bittersweet.”
“It’s only six or seven weeks this time around, and certainly, I’ve done longer than that,” she said of being separated from her family. “We’ve had three-month separations before, so this one is much shorter.”
Adding that she was “determined” to now focus on her “health and recovery,” she continued: “My energy is definitely returned, which is wonderful to feel like myself, to feel like I want to go for walks is an amazing feeling.”
“It’s great to be back at work here in Australia. Working with the MAFS family again is just brilliant and really is helping me feel like I’m moving into the next chapter.”
Her update comes just over a month after she revealed she had finished her final chemo session.
The Aussie star shared a sweet family snap alongside her husband and daughter to celebrate the milestone, telling fans she was looking forward to heading to Australia to begin filming season 12 of Married at First Sight.
Schilling has kept fans up-to-date with her journey, previously sharing that she was reaching the end of her chemotherapy. Ahead of her final round of chemo, she shared a photo of her partner and herself enjoying lunch, sharing with fans; “Date lunch with the big guy to celebrate my impending FINAL round of chemo 🌟 Lovely day on the river, beautiful food, a sip of wine & optimism all round 🙌🏼”
Earlier this year, the MAFS expert gave fans a rare update on her cancer battle, admitting it was “getting hard.”
The Aussie dating host who first went public with her diagnosis in 2023 spoke with The Mirror about her stage three colon cancer.
“I’m about halfway through and it’s getting hard,” she admitted to the publication. “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.”
The 52-year-old recently relocated to London alongside her husband Gareth and daughter, revealing she began her cancer treatment the same day she moved.
“In true ‘me’ fashion, the day we moved was the day I started chemotherapy. I don’t do things by halves. It’s been a tricky time as I’ve been adjusting to going through that and moving house. But Gareth has been doing most of the move so I’m very lucky he’s happy to pick up the slack.”
The latest interview also saw the MAFS star reveal her diagnosis experience, admitting she first dismissed her symptoms as jet lag.
“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. 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,” she explained.
“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.
“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.”
“As horrible as it has been, and it is, let’s not sugar-coat it a tough call, there is some sense of purpose, I guess,” she added. “I’ve realised that I do have a platform and while it’s lots of fun to use it for entertainment purposes, I also get to use it to raise awareness.”
“Since I’ve been diagnosed I’ve connected with a lot of charities and I’ve learnt so much.”
Mel took to Instagram in December 2023 to share with fans her cancer diagnosis, explaining she “knew something still wasn’t right.”
“On Thursday I was told I had colon cancer and in an instant, my whole life changed.”
Revealing that she would be undergoing surgery to remove a 5cm tumour from her colon before beginning chemotherapy, she added: “Despite this I feel incredibly blessed that it’s a cancer that is relatively easy to eradicate, I’m expected to make a full recovery though it’s a rough road ahead.”
“I also feel so lucky to have an incredible support network around me, both personally and professionally, my own family and my TV family have been amazing these past few days.”
