Mel, 51, had said she thought she would spend the day in Kingston Hospital, South West London.

2

2

But on Sunday she posted an Instagram snap of her husband Gareth and eight-year-old daughter Madison in ­festive jumpers, with the caption: “Driving home for Christmas”.

Australian Mel — a relationship expert on the E4 show which sees strangers tie the knot — was diagnosed with colon cancer after suffering stomach cramps and going for a scan.

She said if the 5cm tumour had gone undetected for much longer it would have killed her.

Doctors say Mel is expected to “make a full recovery”, but she has been warned of a “rough road ahead”.

Writing on Instagram alongside a picture of her cuddling her husband and daughter, Mel said: “’YOU HAVE CANCER‘. Three little words that everyone dreads but no one ever expects to hear.

“Last Thursday my consultant told me those three 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.”

Mel – who has starred on MAFS since 2019 – said she was planning to travel to Northern Ireland with her husband Gareth Brisbane and their daughter Maddie to visit family.

Instead she will be checking into hospital for an operation on “a tumour that, had it gone undetected for much longer, would have killed me”.