Married At First Sight Mel Schilling: Age, husband and children revealed

6 February 2025, 17:22

How old is Mel Schilling, who is her husband and how many children does she have? Here is everything you need to know.

Married At First Sight Australia star Mel Schilling has become a firm favourite on the show ever since she joined the all-star panel alongside John Aiken and Alessandra Rampolla.

Known for keeping calm under pressure, Mel began her MAFS career as an expert on Married At First Sight Australia. After earning her stripes in Oz, Mel flew halfway across the world to join the Married At First Sight UK team and hasn't looked back.

The relationship guru has continued to appear on both versions of MAFS, with her UK counterparts Paul Carrick Brunson and Charlene Douglas completing the group of experts.

• Listen to the MAFS UK: It's Official! The Married At First Sight podcast on Global Player

How old is Mel Schilling, who is her husband and does she have any children? Here is everything you need to know.

How old is Mel Schilling?

Mel Schilling was born in 1972 in Australia and celebrated her 52nd birthday in 2024.

The MAFS expert has revealed she believes age is just a number when it comes to love, telling The Self Love Revolution podcast: "I don't care if you're 50 and he's 20, if you're both at the same stage in life, let's say you're both in the stage where you're ready to have a family and settle down, then that's great.

"Or you might be both 40, he might be ready to go out and party and travel and not settle down, and you might be ready to get a mortgage. 

"Those things are more important because that's what creates that massive lifestyle gap, and it's really hard to come back from that."

• Read more: MAFS UK couples still together: All the successful relationships
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Who is Mel Schilling's husband?

Mel Schilling is married to Gareth Brisbane. The couple tied the knot in 2018, but have been together for around 12 years after meeting on a dating website.

Speaking to OK! about how she met her husband, Mel revealed: "I was single for my entire thirties. I wasn’t interested in anyone. I was busy travelling the world, working overseas, I was all about building my business and just living a great life. And so we were both nearly 40 when we met, and he just turned my world upside down. I was not expecting that! We met on [dating website] eHarmony.

"He’s from Whitehead in Northern Ireland, but he was living in Adelaide, and I was in Melbourne. 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 text – I couldn’t talk to him on the phone at first, because I couldn’t understand his accent!"

Does Mel Schilling have children?

Mel Schilling has a ten-year-old daughter called Maddie. Mel has been open in the past about her struggles to conceive and has bravely spoken about the journey she and her husband went through to have their daughter.

In an interview with OK! Mel spoke about her heartbreaking miscarriage before Maddie was born.

She said: "I got pregnant when I was 40 and had a miscarriage and that really changed things. That was a real eye-opener and just made me realise how much I wanted a child. Both of us did."

Mel and Gareth later went through IVF to have their daughter.

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