TV star Mel Schilling’s husband shares emotional update four months after her de*th
The Australian dating coach passed away in March after a brave battle with colon cancer.
TV star Mel Schilling’s husband has shared a heartbreaking update, four months after his wife’s death.
The Australian dating coach, who featured on reality series Married At First Sight, died in March at the age of 53 following a brave battle with cancer.
The news prompted an outpouring of support for her husband Gareth and their 10-year-old daughter, Maddie.
Now, four months after saying goodbye, Gareth has posted a touching tribute to his late wife on Instagram to mark what would have been their eighth wedding anniversary.
“Ah my one,” Gareth wrote alongside a happy photo from their wedding day.
“Hard to reconcile that the anniversary of the happiest day of my life could become one of the saddest.
“We didn’t quite make 8 years married or 15 years together but what a love and what a life we had!”
Gareth said he knew from the moment he met Schilling she was special and shared he and Maddie were continuing to heal after her passing.
“By the end of our first date I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and my love for you burned ever brighter, even as your own light faded,” Gareth continued.
“Sleep easy my girl, I hope you know that Maddie and I are in the best possible place to continue healing.
“She is every inch your daughter and you would be so proud of the remarkable young woman she is becoming.
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
Schilling was first diagnosed with colon cancer in February 2023.
In March, the family released a statement on Instagram confirming Schilling had passed away.
“Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love,” it read.
“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.”
Paying tribute to his wife, Gareth said Schilling became a new mum and TV star at 42 and “nailed both”.
“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,” the statement said.
“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.”
Following her death, Gareth confirmed they had “laid Mel to rest” on April 9 in a private ceremony for family and close friends that was streamed to Australia.
He also revealed they scattered some of Schilling’s ashes at the lighthouse in his hometown of Whitehead, Northern Ireland, as was her wish.
Gareth later shared he and Maddie would be moving to Bali to “heal”.