'She doesn’t understand anymore': Married at First Sight's Matt Pilmoor gives heartbreaking update on mum's health

Matt, aged 31, who was a groom on hugely popular dating show MAFS UK in 2023, has taken to his Instagram page to give an update on his mum’s health after she spent more than 100 days in hospital due to what was an undiagnosed brain condition.

Earlier this month, she was moved to a care home - leaving Matt in “floods of tears”. He also wrote about this on his Instagram page, in a candid post in which he opened up to his 181,000 followers. At the time, her diagnosis was also revealed.

On the May 8 upload, he wrote: “Mum has only just got out of hospital after 6 months with early set dementia, hyper delirium, brain damage from mild nutrition. It’s absolutely heart breaking and I can’t quite get my head round it all.

“I’m navigating life now without my parents, it is so hard but I know it’s something I will have to get used too. I am so incredible close to parents but more so my mum we have been joined at the hip my whole life, so this new stage I’m struggling to come to terms with.”

Returning to his Instagram last night, (Monday May 19), he shared a series of new photos of him sat chatting to his mum, who was sitting in a wheelchair. Alongside the images, he wrote: “She has been in her new care home two weeks now, each day is very different with her mood and how she is settling in.

“It’s taking her a little while to settle and with her brain at the moment she thinks she’s been out and done the shopping and getting other bits done around the house. So all in all I would say she’s settling but a lot more to do.

He went on: “I continue to stay in her world and go along with everything she is saying and thinks is going on, last thing I want to do is distress her.I still continue to tell her about my days and everything that I’m working on and pushing for, even if she doesn’t understand any more.”

He went on to say that he would not be giving an update on his mum’s condition for a “little bit”. “It’s a lot for me to process and keep updating everyone,” he explained. “I’ll update again in time. For now I will be focusing on my fitness, business, opportunities I have coming up, and what my mum would want and that is for me to follow my dreams.”

The reality star has received many messages of support from his fans on his latest post. One said: “You are an amazing person and son.” Another said: “It must be so hard for you to go through this. You're doing the best you can. Having seen family go through dementia and Alzheimer's and other diseases, I know how hard it must be for you. Thinking of you and Shona and all your loved ones.”

Matt is in a relationship with MAFS co-star Shona Manderson. The couple were on the same series of MAFS but were paired with different partners before getting together, are the only remaining couple from series eight specifically. They are also only one of four couples from all nine MAFS UK series who remain together.

Shona was married to Brad Skelly, and at first their romance looked very promising. But, the experts soon raised concerns with Brad’s behavious towards his new wife, calling him out for gaslighting her, and the pair were asked to leave the experiment and split a short time after.

Matt, meanwhile, had been married to Adrienne Naylor but the pair's romance was short-lived. Due to the time they each entered and left the experiement, Shona and Matt did not meet until a subsequent reunion show in June 2023.

They have been dating ever since and are said to want to get married and start a family. During the recent MAFS UK reunion special, which aired in February and included 2023 and 2024 cast members, Matt gave Shona a promise ring - something many viewers thought was an indication he would soon propose.