Teddi Mellencamp slams trolls who criticized her for dating amid stage 4 cancer battle
Teddi Mellencamp has shared her unfiltered reaction to the online critics who denounced her personal life amid her battle with stage four cancer.
DailyMail.com recently exclusively caught sight of the 43-year-old in a clinch with her a new beau, and she has since confirmed she has a man in her life.
Meanwhile her estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, with whom she shares three children, has proven to be a source of support to her as she fights her illness but they have publicly clarified that they are still proceeding with their divorce.
Amid her budding relationship and her health crisis, the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills alumna has also taken the decision to foster a puppy called Maverick.
Now she has revealed that 'people have been coming for me about fostering a dog and they've been coming for me for dating,' on an episode of her Two Ts In A Pod podcast, hosted with Tamra Judge of The Real Housewives Of Orange County fame.
She quoted her critics as saying: 'The only thing she should be worrying about right now are her kids and staying alive. How in the world could she be dating?'
Mellencamp argued that 'if I want to put myself in a situation where I'm staying busy so I'm not getting depressed, why have a problem with that? And clearly I'm not going on dates while my kids are sitting here, looking up, waiting to hang out with me.'
Judge then pointed out that Arroyave has partial custody of the children, hitting out at the trolls: 'So when he has them, what are you supposed to do? Sit in bed and cry about your health? People are just - if you're not in this situation, shut up.'
Mellencamp confessed that she would 'like to say that it doesn't bother me, but it does. When people wrote: "Doesn't she know she has terminal cancer? Why the f*** would she even be dating anyone?"'
She recalled that her doctor told her: 'I really don't want you to think about your cancer as terminal. Just because that happened to somebody's friend's aunt's brother's cousin's friend, doesn't mean that that's what's happening to you.'
Her doctor apparently advised her that 'you don't need to think like that. And you should be going and having fun and trying to laugh and do the best you can.'
As for her health, she noted that she has been 'feeling better in the way that I'm probably working out four or five times a week. Fostering this puppy has been really nice. It's given the kids a lot of happiness.'
The broadside comes after Mellencamp was seen with Arroyave during their daughter Slate's graduation from 'lower school' in Los Angeles last Friday.
The reality TV star looked cheerful in an off-white outfit with her blonde hair down as she smiled for Instagram photos.
She wore a jacket over a tank top and slacks that all matched as the former model added beige slides with a Fendi belt purse. She added two necklace and an anklet.
Edwin looked sporty in a dark gray blazer over a white collared shirt with dark jeans and his prescription glasses on.
Slate, 12, had on a pretty pale purple gown with her hair down.
'Just like that our baby girl is graduating lower school. Off to middle school next year. Proud of you @slate_mellencamp_eq,' wrote the star in her caption as she shared images from the event.
Mellencamp split Arroyave, her husband of 13 years, in November.
Mellencamp - who is the daughter of rocker John Mellencamp and actress Victoria Granucci - and Arroyave share Slate, Cruz, 10 and Dove, five.
This comes after she was seen with her new boyfriend months after announcing her divorce from Edwin.
The star appeared totally smitten with her new lover in Encino, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, on Sunday.
The couple could barely keep their hands to themselves as they enjoyed a jog together amid her ongoing cancer battle.
In photos exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail, Mellencamp's new beau wrapped his arms around her from behind, before pulling her close and planting a kiss on her cheek.
In another heartfelt moment, he sweetly adjusted her hat, worn to protect her bald scalp.
Mom-of-three Mellencamp - dressed casual in a khaki waterproof and navy-blue jogging bottoms - now has stage 4 melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.
In February, she announced that, after weeks of 'severe and debilitating headaches', doctors discovered the cancer has spread to her brain and lungs.
Despite the serious diagnosis, Mellencamp is bravely pressing on, telling fans in April: 'I'm just thinking about all the goals that I have for the future for myself and for my kids.'
And she certainly seemed in good spirits on Sunday, with her new man also opting for comfortable workout gear, donning a white T-shirt and black sweatpants. His short-sleeved top revealed his heavily tattooed arms.
While his identity is not yet known, a source confirmed that Mellencamp 'is dating him' and is very 'happy.'
Mellencamp announced her divorce from Arroyave of 13 years in November. The former couple share three children: Slate, 12, son Cruz, 10, and daughter Dove, four (pictured in 2019)
In March, Mellencamp said that she was throwing herself back into the dating scene following her divorce.
Speaking in a podcast interview, she said: '[I've] already been on more dates with new people.
'Well, I'm on a second date. So, I went on a first date, pre-the thing, and then I went on a second date yesterday actually. He's really cute and nice.'
Shortly after the divorce, a source claimed to the Daily Mail that infidelity with her horse trainer Simon Schoreder had been the catalyst for her shock split.
Nearly two months after the news of Mellencamp and Arroyave's separation and the affair scandal came to light, horse trainer Schoreder's wife Karli Postel also filed for divorce.
Postel had been pregnant at the time of the alleged affair.
In her divorce papers, she cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, with their date of separation listed as September 22, 2024.
Mellencamp finally broke her silence on the end of her marriage in February.
'Me and Edwin had some of the most amazing years and the most amazing times, and when we met it was hot and it was all the things, and then there would be somebody else,' she confessed.
'And I'd be like, "It's OK, I'm gonna work through it, I'm gonna make him love me more!" Then you have kids and things happen,' she continued.
'Probably at the point in time when Edwin was ready to start working on it and really change, I probably stopped.'
Mellencamp was first diagnosed with Stage 2 melanoma in 2022, but her condition took a terrifying turn earlier this year when it progressed to Stage 4.
However, in a recent video on social media, Mellencamp revealed her tumors have significantly shrunk, and that doctors believe she is a few weeks away from being cancer free.
'I just finished with all of my scans, and my tumors have significantly shrunk, which doctors believe means that this all will work, and that I will be back to myself, and feeling good,' she told her fans on Instagram.
She was initially told by doctors she had a fifty–fifty chance of survival.
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