Married at First Sight dating coach Mel Schilling has revealed she has been diagnosed with colon cancer.
The 51-year-old Australian TV personality and psychologist has been a part of the MAFS cast since 2016, first in her home country Australia and later on the UK version of the show, which airs on E4.
On Instagram on Tuesday, she posted a photo of her with her husband, who is from Northern Ireland, and her daughter, and wrote that doctors told her she had colon cancer last week.
She wrote, "'YOU HAVE CANCER' Three little words that everyone dreads but no one ever expects to hear. Last Thursday my consultant told me those 3 words."
She went on to describe her symptoms, which doctors had initially put down to constipation but when the problem persisted, she booked in for a scan, which revealed a 5cm tumour.
She said that later this week, she will have an an operation to remove the tumour from her colon, "a tumour that had it gone undetected for much longer would have killed me."
She said, "Despite this I feel incredibly blessed that it’s a cancer that is relatively easy to eradicate, I’m expected to make a full recovery though it’s a rough road ahead.
"I also feel so lucky to have an incredible support network around me, both personally and professionally, my own family and my TV family have been amazing this past few days."
She joked she had even given her tumour a name - Terry.
Married at First Sight is a reality TV show where strangers are paired up by experts and only meet or see each other for the first at the altar, where they marry.
After the wedding, they live together for a period of time and decide whether they will continue their relationship.
There are many international versions of the show.
