MAFS' Mel Schilling reveals heartbreaking reality of filming while having cancer treatment

Married At First Sight UK expert Mel Schilling has opened up about the heartbreaking reality of filming the dating show while being treated for cancer earlier this year

The emotional rollercoaster for the newlyweds on this year's Married At First Sight UK has just kicked off, but relationship guru Mel Schilling is already back in her homeland of Australia, guiding another batch of hopeful love-seekers as they courageously tie the knot with total strangers and strive to build successful marriages. For 52 year old Mel, returning to film the Australian version this summer was a mixed bag of emotions. She, along with her husband Gareth and daughter Maddie, now reside in the UK, and they were unable to stay with her in Australia when it was time for Maddie to go back to school.

"We managed it pretty well," shares Mel. "Filming began in August, so Gareth and Maddie came to Australia with me, and we based ourselves on the Gold Coast right next to the beach. I had a lot of downtime and beautiful beach time with them. But they've gone home to the UK now, because school's started again. So now I've just got a couple of months here by myself before I can get back to them again." Gareth and Maddie have been a tremendous source of support for Mel following her colon cancer diagnosis in December 2023. The MAFS team also rallied around her, providing "wonderful" support while she underwent treatment during the filming of the current series earlier this year.

Opening up about her battle with cancer while filming the UK series, she shared: "I was going through chemo the whole time we were filming the UK series," admitting it was challenging yet supported by an incredibly caring team. "The team was just crowding around me to give me as much flexibility and support as they possibly could. They really cared for me. It wasn't easy, but it was so wonderful to be able to work because it enabled me to still feel like me."

Post-treatment, Mel is feeling rejuvenated: "I would say I have almost all my energy back, so I'm starting to feel like me again," she beams, eager to spill the beans on the latest MAFS UK season. She hints at a series filled with "a lot of love" and "very hot, sexy kind of attraction, which is so much fun to watch." Mel describes this year's contestants as relatable, saying they are "more like you and I." She emphasises that she, alongside the show's creators, has rigorously kept fame hunters at bay, ensuring participants are in it for genuine connections, not celebrity status. "There are people who see previous brides and grooms and what they've gone on to do career-wise and think, 'I'll have a bit of that.' But that's our job, to weed that out and make sure the people are genuine. It could be your next door neighbour, which is really nice."

Mel, a long-standing expert on Married At First Sight since 2016, has opened up about the challenges she's faced, including receiving death threats during the show's sixth season in Australia. Fans were up in arms over how the experts appeared to be managing the couples, not realising that Mel and her colleagues weren't as involved in the day-to-day as it seemed. "Our audience now know that we don't get to see what our couples are doing day by day. We don't have hidden cameras."

Despite the hardships, Mel's passion for the show hasn't waned, and she confesses to becoming deeply invested in the participants' journeys. "I find as I've become more experienced and more comfortable with the format, I bring more of my real self to the experiment," she reveals. She also shares a touching personal moment from the set: "I've been filming this week and had tears rolling down my face when one of the contributors was talking about missing their child, just like I am missing Maddie."