Married At First Sight star Mel Schilling’s colleagues pay tribute to her after her tragic death at 54 from cancer – and reveal how she spent her final months
Married At First Sight star Mel Schilling’s former colleagues have paid tribute to her following her tragic death last week aged 54 from cancer, revealing how she spent her final months.
Several of her close friends from the Channel Nine dating experiment have revealed the beloved relationship expert remained upbeat in her final days – and had big plans for the future.
‘The last time I saw Mel was in October when we went to lunch in Darling Harbour, just before she was heading back to the UK,’ MAFS veteran Jules Robinson told The Sunday Telegraph.
Jules added that Mel continued to remain optimistic about the future during her final months – and was even making future career plans.
‘She had doors opening to create her own dating show and was so excited for the future. The UK just loved her so much and she really felt that there, she was loving living there. She had aspirations of working in the US,’ Jules revealed.
Meanwhile, Marney Hands, Mel’s long-term hair and make-up artist, revealed that Mel deliberately put on a brave face because she didn’t want people to see her struggling.
More: “Where’s Mom?” The heartbreaking reality of daughter Maddie grief over the death of Mel Schilling
‘She was bloody tough. She was on struggle street, but wouldn’t talk about it with anyone. The last thing she wanted was anyone to look at her with pitying eyes and cry,’ Marney said.
Elsewhere, Adrian Swift, Nine’s head of content, production and development, revealed the heartwarming reason the network first signed Mel onto MAFS in 2015.
‘You could see her warmth. Television can be a cynical business, but she was never cynical about it and never lost her enthusiasm for it,’ Swift revealed.
‘When filming the last season she was a bit more tired, and we would make allowances,’ he added.
Endemol Shine director of content Tara McWilliams joined the chorus, revealing that Mel was surprisingly upbeat the last time they saw her, in December.
‘The thing about Mel is that she was absolutely consistent with who she was from the moment I met her to my last day working with her,’ she said.
‘She was kind, warm, positive, always smiling – that woman did not have a mean bone in her body.’
It comes after the heartbreaking family sacrifice Mel made in her final years was revealed.
The beloved relationship expert relocated to London with her family in 2021 to take up a role on MAFS UK, but continued flying back to Sydney for several months each year to appear on the Channel Nine version.
The demanding schedule meant repeatedly uprooting her life – and enduring long stretches apart from her husband Gareth and their daughter Maddie, 10 – as she balanced her booming international career with family life.
In September 2024, a year after her cancer diagnosis, Mel opened up to her followers about the personal toll her career was taking.
‘They’ve just returned to the UK, it’s very bittersweet and hard to say goodbye but it’s only six or seven weeks this time around… I’ve done longer than that away from them in the past… we’ve had three months separations before,’ she wrote.
She added that her demanding schedule – juggling both the local and international versions of MAFS – often kept her apart from her husband and daughter for months at a time.
Mel, who had been a fixture on MAFS AU since its second season in 2016, previously admitted that she often endured extreme pain while filming the show – but pushed through regardless.
Mel’s husband Gareth announced on Tuesday that the dating expert had died just days after revealing her cancer had spread to her brain.
In a lengthy statement, he spoke of her love for him and their daughter Madison.
Mel helmed the expert panel of the Australian franchise for 12 seasons and also appeared in five series of the UK version on Channel 4.
But she had announced she would be stepping back from filming earlier this year, in order to prioritise her family and health.