Mel Schilling, an Australian psychologist and dating expert who guided couples on the reality program “Married at First Sight,” died on Tuesday. She was 54.
Her death was announced by her husband, Gareth Brisbane, on social media.
Ms. Schilling was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2023. Two weeks ago, she announced that the disease had spread to her brain. “I honestly don’t know how long I have left,” she wrote at the time.
Ms. Schilling became famous as a dating coach on “Married at First Sight,” a reality TV franchise in which single people marry complete strangers, then navigate their new marriage with the help of relationship experts such as Ms. Schilling. She joined the Australian version of the show in 2016 and also appeared on several seasons of the British version.
She was also a regular on other British and Australian television programs, often appearing on morning shows and radio to give out dating advice.
Over the last two years, Ms. Schilling underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy while filming “Married at First Sight,” she said on Instagram this month.
Her husband said she had died “peacefully, surrounded by love.”
“This is a woman who, through two years of chemotherapy, when she could barely lift her head from the pillow, never complained and never stopped showing courage, grace, compassion and empathy, and never missed a day of filming,” Mr. Brisbane wrote.
This year, because of her illness, she stepped down as an expert on “Married at First Sight Australia” after 12 seasons. In 2025, Ms. Schilling co-hosted a limited podcast series with the British writer Elizabeth Day in which the two dished out advice on how to date.
Ms. Schilling’s own love story often served as an inspiration, both on television and on the podcast. She met her husband online in 2011, when she was 39. Three years later, the couple had a daughter, Maddie, around the same time that Ms. Schilling’s television career took off.
“This is a woman who became a new mum and a TV star at 42 — and nailed both,” Mr. Brisbane wrote. “I had 15 wonderful years with my soulmate.”
Melanie Jane Schilling was born in April 1972 in Melbourne, Australia. She is survived by Mr. Brisbane and their daughter, Maddie, who is 11. A full list of survivors was not immediately available.
In an interview with The Times in 2025, Ms. Schilling offered some of her best advice, which she said applied to her own relationship. One of the main lessons she learned from “Married at First Sight,” she said, was that “chemistry is not always instant.”
“I’ve seen time and time again,” she said. “There are examples where people can build chemistry.” She recommended staying curious and keeping an open mind while finding someone who matches your values, delivering the wisdom in the manner that made her famous on reality television: “Stick by your convictions and put them out there.”
Claire Moses is a Times reporter in London, focused on coverage of breaking and trending news.
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