Married At First Sight dating coach Mel Schilling has revealed she has been diagnosed with cancer and will spend Christmas in hospital.

The 51-year-old reality star said she had a scan after experiencing stomach cramps while filming in Australia and was told she has colon cancer.

Schilling is one of three relationship experts on the UK version of E4’s hit show, which sees strangers tie the knot.

They are matched by Schilling, Paul Brunson and Charlene Douglas and then receive guidance from the trio throughout the course of the show.

Schilling revealed her diagnosis on Instagram, alongside a photo of herself with her husband Gareth and eight-year-old daughter Madison in an embrace.

She wrote: “‘YOU HAVE CANCER’. Three little words that everyone dreads but no one ever expects to hear. Last Thursday my consultant told me those 3 words.

“About a month ago when I was filming in Australia I developed severe stomach cramps on set, I put it down to all the travel I’d been doing and the upset it caused to my system.

“I saw my GP in Sydney and he put it down to constipation, gave me some laxatives and sent me on my way. Fortunately I knew something still wasn’t right so I booked in for a scan when I returned to the UK. On Thursday I was told I had colon cancer and in an instant my whole life changed.”

She added she had been planning to travel to Northern Ireland to spend Christmas with her family this week but will instead be having surgery.

“Instead tomorrow morning I’m checking in to hospital to have an operation to remove a 5cm tumour in my colon, a tumour that had it gone undetected for much longer would have killed me,” she wrote.

“Despite this I feel incredibly blessed that it’s a cancer that is relatively easy to eradicate, I’m expected to make a full recovery though it’s a rough road ahead.”

She continued: “It will be so tough to spend Xmas Day in hospital instead of being surrounded by family but getting rid of Terry (what I’ve named my tumour) will be the best present of all.

“I just wanted to finish by saying that if something doesn’t feel right, please, please don’t ignore it and if you don’t think the answers you have got are right, keep going until you do, it might just save your life.”

The psychologist has been a part of the MAFS cast since 2016, first in her home country, Australia, and later on the UK version of the show, which airs on E4.