Married At First Sight dating coach Mel Schilling said the UK should be “proud” of its health service workers after she had keyhole surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in her colon.
The 51-year-old reality star, one of three relationship experts on the UK version of E4’s hit show, said she is focused on getting out of hospital in time for Christmas following the surgery.
The psychologist, whose husband Gareth Brisbane is from Co Antrim, had hoped to spend Christmas in Ireland this year but had to change plans following her cancer diagnosis.
On Friday she shared a photograph of herself with a thumb up and said the tumour she nicknamed Terry is “toast.”
She wrote: “Terry, you are the weakest link…goodbye!
“So yesterday lunchtime I had keyhole surgery to remove my tumour (AKA Terry) and in the words of my amazing surgeon it couldn’t have gone any better!
“Crucially the cancer hadn’t spread to my abdominal cavity, which was our greatest fear but was entirely localized in my colon.
“Over the coming days I will discuss my treatment plan going forwards but suffice to say that Terry is toast!”
The reality star went on to say she has been “absolutely blown away” by the “countless messages of support” received.
“I am so very touched and can honestly say it’s made a difference, so thank you all,” she said.
“I also wanted to say that everyone in the UK should be incredibly proud of the people of the NHS.
“I’m not talking about the funding, the structure or the waiting lists, just the people.
“Everyone from my consultant to the surgical team and especially the wonderful nurses managing my recovery have been just superb.
“It’s not just their professionalism but also their genuine concern, bedside manner (especially the nurses) and their endlessly sunny disposition, despite working up to 14 hour days.
“I owe all of these wonderful people my life and I will be forever indebted to them.
“The NHS is a unique, precious institution we need to make sure it’s here to serve our children and our children’s children.
“Now, it’s time to focus on getting my ass out of here in time for Christmas.”
The reality star announced her cancer diagnosis in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
She said she had started to develop “severe stomach cramps on set” while filming in Australia and visited her GP in Sydney, who put it down to constipation and gave her some laxatives.
“Fortunately I knew something still wasn’t right so I booked in for a scan when I returned to the UK,” she said.
Schilling said her “whole life changed” when she was then told she had colon cancer.
According to the reality star, if the 5cm tumour had gone undetected for much longer it would have killed her.
The psychologist has been a part of the Married At First Sight cast since 2016, first in her home country, Australia, and later on the UK version of the show, which airs on E4.
