At a glance…
- Registered clinical psychotherapist Marryam Chehelnabi is joining Married at First Sight as a relationship expert.
- Mel Schilling held the role previously until she stepped away in late 2025. She died in March 2026 from cancer at just 54 years old.
- The news was shared at the 2027 Nine Upfront in Sydney.
When Mel Schilling tragically died at just 54 years of age, Nine was left with the tough task of finding a suitable replacement for such a popular personality on the show Married At First Sight (MAFS).
However, at the 2027 Nine Upfront, they finally revealed who was taking up her mantle: Marryam Chehelnabi.
This won’t be her first foray into a relationship-adjacent show. Marryam was previously the lead therapist on the SBS docu-series Couples Therapy Australia. In that show, real-life couples open up to Marryam about their relationship struggles. You can watch the first two seasons on SBS On Demand.
Marryam is a registered clinical psychotherapist and runs her own business, Changes Psychotherapy, which offers counselling services and workshops.
Also, she holds a Master of Science in Medicine from the University of Sydney as well as a Master of Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy, and is a PACFA Registered Clinical Psychotherapist (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia). So, she has the experience and background that should lend another level of expertise to the experiment.
When she was announced as Mel Schilling’s replacement, the comments section of Niune’s post was flooded with comments for Mel.
“Big shoes to fill,” wrote one commentator. Another wrote, “Its not easy to fill the shoes of someone so loved. Congratulations.”
Mel Schilling first stepped away from the show after 12 seasons to “prioritise family.”
“This hasn’t been a choice I’ve made lightly,” she wrote in a statement. “In recent years, my health challenges and living in the UK spending up to three months a year away from my family is no longer sustainable. It has become clear that I must make a change that puts my family, health and time at the very centre of my life.”
Mel first shared that she had stage 3 colon cancer in December 2023. She spoke with The Weekly in late 2024 and was optimistic about her outlook.
“I’m not cancer-free,” she shared, “but I’m out of the woods. The surgery was great and got rid of the tumour, and the chemo mopped up everything that was left behind. What it means is that now I need to have a scan every three months.”
Sadly, the cancer returned, and in March 2026, she shared that her “light is starting to fade – and quickly.”
“But I am still here, still fighting, and surrounded by the most incredible love. Simple tasks have become incredibly difficult, and I am relying on my beautiful family to look after me,” Mel added, referring to her husband Gareth and daughter Maddie.
Then, more than two years after being diagnosed with colon cancer, Mel passed away aged just 54.
“Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love. In her final moments, when I thought cancer had taken away her ability to speak, she ushered me closer and whispered a message for Maddie and me that will sustain me for the rest of my life. It took all of her remaining strength, and that gesture summed up our wee Melsie perfectly. Even then, her only thought was for Maddie and me,” her husband Gareth shared of his wife’s final moments.
Married at First Sight and Stan Exclusive MAFS: After the Dinner Party are returning to our screens in 2027.
