Mel Schilling starts chemotherapy after colon cancer diagnosis - is she in the new MAFS Australia series?

Married At First Sight relationship expert Mel Schilling has started her chemotherapy treatment.

The 52-year-old was diagnosed with colon cancer toward the end of last year, and was staring down the barrel of a Christmas in hospital. She underwent surgery and had a tumour the size of a lime removed.

Now, the dating coach has shared an update as her chemotherapy begins.

Posting a video on Instagram, she said: "So here I am, day one of chemo. 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!"

Speaking about her cancer discover, Schilling described herself as suffering from cramps, but putting it down to being "overtired and jet-lagged". However, abdominal pains and menstrual cycle troubles indicated that it might be more serious than that.

In an interview with ITV's This Morning earlier this year - following her surgery - she explained that her natural reaction was to "just keep going" instead of thinking about what had happened.

She said: "It has absolutely been tough - but it was a reasonably early intervention. It was stage three cancer so still very serious, if I had waited maybe a month or so longer it could have been a very different story.

"I am starting to process it now. My tendency is just to keep going and keep working, but I know I need to process this all."

The 2024 season of Married At First Sight Australia is currently airing on TV, which is the show Schilling was flying back and forth for last year when she was in "incredible" pain. So far, she has been present in every episode, guiding the couples through the experiment.