Much-loved Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling has died at age 54.
Schilling’s husband, Gareth Brisbane, announced her passing on social media on Tuesday night.
Schilling was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023. Earlier in March this year, she publicly announced her diagnosis was terminal after the cancer spread to the left side of her brain.
“Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love,” her husband wrote on Instagram.
“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. 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.”
In February, Schilling announced that she would be stepping away from her role on MAFS due to her health issues.
She is survived by her husband, Gareth, and daughter, Maddie.
“This is a woman who became a new mum and a TV star at 42 – and nailed both,” her husband wrote.
“This is a woman who, through two years of chemotherapy, when she could barely lift her head from the pillow, never complained and never stopped showing courage, grace, compassion and empathy, and never missed a day of filming.
“To most of you, she was Mel Schilling – matriarch of Mafs and queen of reality TV. To Maddie and me, she was our wee Melsie: an incredible mum, role model, and soulmate.”
Fellow MAFS expert John Aiken paid tribute to Schilling, writing on Instagram: “I am heartbroken, devastated and finding it hard to breathe.”
“It was a privilege and an honor to sit beside her on the MAFS couch and watch her shine. She was warm, supportive and honest, and she deeply cared about all our participants. I had a front row seat to her remarkable skills and she truly believed in the experiment.
“And behind the scenes we had so much fun. Before going on set we would sing, dance, face time her daughter and eat lollies. Every time I came to set she would squeal, jump out of her chair and run and embrace me – squeezing me tight.
“And through all of these years she was an amazing mother and wife. She was loving, committed, loyal, fun and so very very kind. And she always had as her driving force her family. She was a role model for all to see.
“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.”