27 February 2024 , 17:09
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Married at First Sight's relationship expert Mel Schilling has given fans a candid health update as she starts chemotherapy.
The 52-year-old saw her life turn upside down last year when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. The E4 star, who shares share a nine-year-old daughter named Maddie with Irish businessman Gareth Brisbane, has explained how she dismissed her initial symptoms - and fears other women could make the same mistake.
"So here I am, day one of chemo," she said during a short clip outside the hospital. "I have so much stuff with me thanks to all the advice I had on what to bring. It's like I'm moving in for six weeks. Here it goes!" She then showed off a bag with her essentials for the coming weeks as she battles the disease.
She then posted a selfie with her husband, captioning the photo: "It takes all of us to fight cancer" before calling Gareth "my #1 support". The dating guru also appeared on the UK version of the programme, and also took part in Celebs Go Dating as the stars attempted to get to the bottom of their commitment issues.
Mel has been diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent an operation to remove a lime-size tumourMel also shared snaps from inside hospital, including the snacks she had taken with her, and praised a small brand called Port & Bello who design clothing for medical treatment. Wearing the jumper, which has zips that go up the sleeves, Mel wrote: "How brilliant is the design of this jumper? Customised for people going through chemo." She remained in good spirits as she left the hospital to the tune of Christina Aguilera's Stronger.
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Mel said at first she suffered abdominal pain that she dismissed as relating to her menstrual cycle and initially a doctor gave her painkillers - and she also thought her health complaints stemmed from long distance travel. Speaking of her cancer battle, she said: “I just kept putting it down to travel, I knew I was run down. Last year was probably the biggest year of my career – I knew I was exhausted so I just kept saying to myself, ‘That’s all it is, I’m overtired and jet-lagged.’ My digestive system was complaining at that point and I was starting to get cramps.”
At first she suffered abdominal pain that she dismissed as relating to her menstrual cycle and initially a doctor gave her painkillers - and she also thought her health complaints stemmed from long distance travel. While Mel is a star of MAFS UK, she also appears on the Australian version of the show - where she repeats her relationship expert role.
Mel appeared on ITV's daytime programme This Morning in January in a bid to raise awareness and urged people not to ignore symptoms. During her time on the show, Mel shared that she was doing well although still had some chemotherapy to come. She said: "This is a good news story, it's been tough, but it was a reasonably early intervention. I mean it was still stage three cancer, it was very serious, if I'd waited a month or so longer it could have been a very different story."