MAFS expert Mel Schilling's life off screen including husband she met at 40

Melanie Schilling will be making a welcome return to our TV screens on Monday, with a new season of Married At First Sight UK scheduled to air on 18 September.

The 51 year old, known as Mel, is one of the show’s dating experts, alongside Paul C. Brunson and Charlene Douglas, and will be on-hand to help this year’s contestants find their perfect match.

Mel, who hails from Australia, joined the Aussie edition of the hit show in 2016 before being drafted in to help with the UK version last year.

As we welcome Mel back to our TV screens, here we taking a peek into her life off screen including her love life…

Mel Schilling is a dating expert on Married At First Sight

Mel is an author, TV presenter, coach and consultant who specialises in human behaviour and performance. She joined MAFS in 2016 and has appeared on eight series of the Australian edition, as well as two UK series.

When she’s not match making for others, Mel can be found spending time with her husband Gareth and adorable daughter Maddie, seven.

Gareth, who runs an online betting business, and Mel married on 24 December 2020 after meeting around 10 years ago, when they were both nearly 40 years old. The family relocated to Brighton last year so Mel could film for MAFS UK.

Mel is an author, speaker and TV presenter

Mel pictured with husband Gareth and daughter Maddie

Mel previously opened up about finding love later in life, revealing she met Gareth on a dating site and he turned her “world upside down”.

She told OK! last year: “I was single for my entire thirties. I wasn’t interested in anyone. I was busy travelling the world, and working overseas, I was all about building my business and just living a great life.

“We were both nearly 40 when we met, and he just turned my world upside down. I was not expecting that! We met on eharmony. He’s from Whitehead in Northern Ireland, but he was living in Adelaide, and I was in Melbourne.”

The family now live in Brighton

The pair went on to have a long distance relationship, with Mel explaining: “We did long distance for six weeks, which was really pivotal in the success of our relationship because we didn’t physically meet for those six weeks, but we were communicating every day. And it was mostly email and next – I couldn’t talk to him on the phone at first, because I couldn’t understand his accent!”