Gareth Brisbane, the husband of late Married At First Sight (MAFS) star Mel Schilling, has paid a poignant tribute to his wife on what would have been their eighth wedding anniversary. Schilling, an Australian TV personality known for her relationship advice on the Channel 4 reality dating show, died in March at the age of 54, just weeks after revealing that doctors could no longer treat her cancer.
Emotional Instagram Post
Brisbane shared a photo from their wedding day, showing him kissing Schilling while holding their daughter Maddie. In the caption, he wrote: "Ah my one. Hard to reconcile that the anniversary of the happiest day of my life could become one of the saddest. We didn’t quite make eight years married or 15 years together but what a love and what a life we had!"
He continued: "By the end of our first date I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and my love for you burned ever brighter, even as your own light faded." The post concluded with a message of hope: "Sleep easy my girl, I hope you know that Maddie and I are in the best possible place to continue healing. She is every inch your daughter and you would be so proud of the remarkable young woman she is becoming." Brisbane added a quote: "Death leaves a heartache no-one can heal, love leaves a memory no-one can steal."
Schilling's Cancer Battle
Schilling was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2023. She underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy during filming for MAFS. In a 2024 Instagram post marking their seventh wedding anniversary, she expressed gratitude for Brisbane, calling him her "soul mate."
Family Announcement and Move to Bali
Her family announced her death on March 24, stating she "passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love." A month later, Brisbane announced on her social media that he and Maddie were moving to Bali, the Indonesian island where the couple married in 2018, for "our next chapter."
