All the details Mel Schilling has shared about her devastating cancer battle over the years

MAFS expert Mel Schilling shared a heartbreaking update about her colon cancer on Thursday, revealing the cancer has now spread to the left side of her brain and, “there is nothing further they can do”.

She devastatingly shared that her “light is starting to fade” and she doesn’t know how long she has left. “I will fight to my last breath and will be surrounded by the love and support of my people,” she wrote.

The 54-year-old has been very open about her battle with cancer over the last three years, and this is everything she has shared.

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

Mel was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023, and has been very open about her battle

The dating coach shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer in an Instagram post in December 2023. She had been experiencing severe stomach cramps while filming in Australia and initially put it down to all the travel she had been doing, but went for a scan in the UK and found out it was colon cancer.

“‘YOU HAVE CANCER’. Three little words that everyone dreads but no one ever expects to hear. Last Thursday, my consultant told me those three words,” she wrote.

“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.”

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

In a second post, Mel revealed that she had an operation to remove the 5cm tumour in her colon.

“So yesterday lunchtime I had keyhole surgery to remove my tumour (AKA Terry) and in the words of my amazing surgeon it couldn’t have gone any better! Crucially the cancer hadn’t spread to my abdominal cavity, which was our greatest fear but was entirely localised in my colon,” she wrote.

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

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Mel then shared that the surgery had been successful and she was cancer-free. The next step of her treatment was three months of chemotherapy.

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

However, just a month later in February 2024, doctors found that the cancer had tragically spread to her lungs, and she underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy. Mel was also told that she was eligible for a groundbreaking clinical trial.

She didn’t share much about her illness online throughout 2025, but often encouraged people to watch out for the symptoms of colon cancer and posted pictures with her husband and daughter, writing in the caption how thankful she was to have them.

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

The 54-year-old went back to work and filmed the latest series of MAFS Australia, but things worsened over Christmas 2025, when she started experiencing headaches and numbness down her right side.

“After many tests, I was told the cancer had spread to the left side of my brain and, despite subsequent radiotherapy sessions, my oncology team have now told me there is nothing further they can do,” Mel wrote in a devastating update.

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A post shared by Mel Schilling (@mel_schilling1)

“Hearing those words changes everything. So that’s where I am now. My light is starting to fade — and quickly. But I am still here, still fighting, and surrounded by the most incredible love.”

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Featured image by: Mel Schilling/Instagram