Married At First Sight star Chanita Stephenson hints at future TV plans on wickedly funny Keep It Grief episode

Reality star Chanita becomes the popular podcast’s first female co-host, revealing the wild party she threw for her late mum’s 50th birthday

Married At First Sight star Chanita Stephenson says she has sorted her life out and is ready to get back out into the world following her mum’s death.

In the latest episode of Keep It Grief, now on on all podcast platforms, the reality star hints at a future TV role, saying she has “something in the pipeline, but I can’t say yet.”

Chanita, a qualified social worker, joins Jonny Meah as the podcast’s first female co-host, in an episode packed with laughter, tears and dark humour, while regular co-host Neil Collins is away.

The pair’s funny and moving conversation follows the wild party Chanita threw recently to celebrate what would have been her mum’s 50th birthday.

Chanita sets the tone early, joking that her mum “sadly didn’t turn up, which was quite rude of her”, before describing a celebration that became so rowdy she looked around and declared: “It’s getting a bit feral in here, isn’t it?”

But alongside the jokes, she reveals the devastating responsibility of being the only person who knew how long her mum had left to live, and how she is beginning to emerge from the grief that followed her death in January 2024.

Chanita said: “I actually feel like I’m coming out of the shadows a lot more now, so I’m going to jump on my social media a lot more.

“I’m ready to get back out there as the new version of me. Whether people like that or not is a different story.

“I’ve sorted my sh** out now.”

Chanita explains that finding humour in painful moments is something she shared with her mum, including during her cancer treatment.

Chanita said: “I will be really sad, and then I make a joke because that’s how my mum brought me up. We had a bit of a dark humour.”

That spirit ran through the birthday party, held in the same pub where Chanita had organised her mum’s final birthday celebration. Friends and family danced, shared stories and wrote memories in a book that already contained birthday messages from when her mum was alive.

Despite feeling anxious beforehand, Chanita says the night helped her.

Chanita said: “I woke up on the Saturday morning afterwards and I just felt good. I was so anxious beforehand, and I didn’t know how I’d feel, or what the night would be like.

“I think it’s helped heal a little part of me.”

The episode also sees Chanita recall asking her mum’s oncologist for her prognosis while her mum was out of the room.

Chanita said: “I’d rather know the horrific truth and deal with it. Whereas my mum slightly is a bit different to me, and also who wants to know how long they have left to live?

“For so long, I was the only one that knew how long my mum had to live.”

She was holding her mum’s hand when she died and stayed beside her for five hours afterwards because she could not bear to leave.

For Jonny, whose own mum died of breast cancer three years ago, Chanita’s ability to move between laughter and heartbreak makes her a natural fit for the show.

Host and commercial radio presenter Jonny Meah told her: “You’ve been a real ray of light with your honesty.”

Reflecting on their shared loss, he added: “We can celebrate it, and we have those moments of celebration, which I think are absolutely fine, but actually, it comes down to it. We are just two kids that have lost our mums.”

Keep It Grief, supported by headline sponsor The Estate Registry, brings honest conversations about grief, loss and living alongside them. Chanita’s episode is available tonight on all podcast platforms and on YouTube.