‘Fearless’ Mel Schilling remembered by Married at First Sight co-star

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Mel Schilling was diagnosed with cancer in late 2023

Mel Schilling’s Married At First Sight UK co-star Paul C Brunson has shared an emotional tribute to his “fearless”, “tough” and “deeply loved” late friend and colleague.

Schilling, who starred on the reality TV show in her home country Australia and the UK, died on Tuesday, two years after being diagnosed with cancer.

E4 also read out a statement before the Australian edition of the show was broadcast in the UK on Tuesday, saying it was “Mel and her family’s wish that we carry on showing” the programme after her death.

Brunson - who featured alongside Schilling as a fellow relationship coach on the UK version for five years - posted pictures of them together with a message hailing her “extraordinary strength”.

Schilling had been flying between Australia and the UK to film for the past two years while also going through chemotherapy, Brunson explained.

“Despite the travel, the treatment, the strain on her body… she showed up fully,” he said. “Every single time. Always with a smile I never once heard her complain. That wasn’t just professionalism. That was extraordinary strength.”

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Left to right: Mel Schilling, Charlene Douglas, Paul C Brunson, Jay Howard and Ella Morgan at the 2024 Bafta TV Awards

Brunson went on to stress how “fearless” she had been on the show in defence of women and the LGBTQ+ community.

“Mel was tough. A straight talker. Strong in every sense. But when she spoke about her daughter Maddie… and her husband Gareth… everything softened,” he continued.

Brunson ended his message by saying his co-star had “showed us what it means to live your values” and “to show up with strength, even when it’s hard”.

“She was present. She was powerful. She was full of heart,” he continued. “She will be deeply loved. And profoundly missed.”

Married At First Sight features single people who agree to marry total strangers, meeting them for the first time at the altar. The UK version was a nominated for best reality show at the 2024 Bafta TV Awards.

‘We wouldn’t be together if it wasn’t for Mel Schilling’

Before Tuesday’s show, an E4 announcer said: "Everyone at Channel 4 is hugely saddened by the news we’ve lost Mel Schilling.

“It was Mel and her family’s wish that we carry on showing Married At First Sight and celebrate her mission to help others find love and happiness.”

Alessandra Rampolla, another coach on the Australian show, also posted a tribute, saying her heart was shattered by the news of Schilling’s death.

“I feel so incredibly grateful for the time we shared last week… to look you in the eyes, to hold your hand, and to say the things that truly mattered,” she wrote.

“That is a gift I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

She described her as “so much more than a colleague”.

“You were a constant, a guiding force, and to me, someone I admired and learned from - like a big sister, a woman of immense heart, wisdom, and generosity.”

‘Truly magical woman’: Tributes to Married at First Sight’s Mel Schilling

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