Real Housewives star Teddi Mellencamp shares difficult 'day to day decision' amid stage four cancer battle
Teddi Mellencamp has shared a poignant update on her fight against stage four cancer, detailing the intense emotional journey she's been on.
In February, the podcast host disclosed that following a skin cancer diagnosis in 2022, doctors discovered 'multiple' tumors in her brain and lung. After enduring a harrowing brain surgery, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, aged 43, made a powerful appearance at a cancer benefit last week, choosing to forgo a wig and courageously display the scars from her recent surgeries.
She has now opened up to her followers about how she decides whether to wear a wig or not, with her choice reflecting her mood on any given day.
"The day to day decision of wig versus no wig. Crying days I tend to pick the wig," she shared on Instagram, posting a selfie where she dons a full blonde wig.
Teddi highlighted the stark ups and downs of undergoing treatment for stage 4 brain and lung tumors, while also taking the opportunity to encourage her fans to get regular health checks. "The highs and lows of treatment for stage 4 brain and lung tumors are pretty extreme. Please go get your yearly checks," she implored.
As the daughter of music legend John Mellencamp, she took the chance to remind everyone that it's melanoma awareness month, stressing the importance of scheduling check-ups and encouraging others to do the same.
This heartfelt insight comes after Teddi gave an exclusive interview to DailyMail.com, where she described her life as 'devastating' and spoke openly about her stage four cancer diagnosis. The reality TV personality attended the Women's Cancer Research Fund's annual gala, An Unforgettable Evening, alongside her close friend Kylie Richards, where she opted to proudly show her bare head instead of wearing a wig.
Revealing her head scars from the numerous medical procedures she's endured this year, she looked absolutely fabulous in a chic black suit paired with shimmering silver heels.
During the event, she provided an update on her harrowing health journey and firmly addressed those who criticised her for continuing to ride horses amidst her treatment. "This is my first night out since I got out of the hospital," she declared.
"I feel good. I know it feels really devastating right now, but everything – it gets better."
Just last week, she shared some positive news that the tumors 'have shrunk a bunch' thanks to immunotherapy, with her medical team optimistic about the progress.
The reality TV personality is gearing up for one final round of the innovative cancer therapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to combat cancer cells, before her next major assessment on June 1.
Teddi's health crisis brought her divorce proceedings to a temporary standstill, which started after she filed the necessary paperwork in late 2024.
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Teddi Mellencamp reveals distressing side effect of immunotherapy amid stage 4 cancer battle
Teddi Mellencamp turned to her fans for advice Thursday as she opened up about struggling with immunotherapy amid her stage four cancer battle. The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 44, shared an emotional video on Instagram, showing herself in bed with her shaven head on full display as she detailed the intense effects of the cancer treatment that harnesses the body's immune system to fight the disease. 'For all of you who have gone through immunotherapy, did you guys have severe anxiety?' she asked. 'Just on random days for no apparent reason? I'm sitting here full of anxiety.' She continued: 'Is this common? What have you guys done to help make you feel better? Looking for any positive advice.' She reinforced her concern in the post's caption: 'For anybody who's gone through immunotherapy, what did you do to help combat the severe anxiety that takes over sometimes? Or any other advice to help yourself feel a bit better?' The message comes after Mellencamp revealed she discovered now-estranged husband Edwin Arroyave's affair with a mutual friend just days before her 2017 debut on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 44, shared an emotional video on Instagram, showing herself in bed with her shaven head on full display as she detailed the intense effects of the cancer treatment that harnesses the body's immune system to fight the disease During a recent appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, Teddi opened up about her marriage, pausing divorce proceedings amid her cancer battle, and admitted her diagnosis felt like 'payback' for her own infidelities, which occurred after Edwin's. Teddi, who remained on Bravo's RHOBH until 2020, said the discovery left her 'broken' and forced her to beg him to stay. 'It was with somebody I knew. I mean, I'm not saying that I didn't make huge mistakes, and in my marriage post that, but that broke me,' she said. 'That was the first time in my life where I was like, how will I show up every day with a smile on my face and raise these kids, and be this perfect wife and start a television show and become somebody that people like or they think are funny?' The mother-of-three, who shares Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5, with Edwin, explained how the betrayal affected her first season on Housewives, forcing her to 'fake' her way through filming to protect her kids. 'People say, 'Oh you seem kind of quiet or you were kind of passive'—but that's not really who you are. I wasn't faking who I was, I was coping. I was so scared that someone was going to find out and ruin my family's life.' Teddi filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years on November 1, 2024, citing irreconcilable differences. She publicly revealed her cancer diagnosis in February 2025, pausing the proceedings. Despite everything, the pair have maintained a close and amicable co-parenting relationship. Elsewhere in the interview, Mellencamp finally addressed the alleged affair with her horse trainer, Simon Schroeder, which made headlines in late 2024. 'I've never talked about it at all, just because of the kids, and I've never wanted anybody to have a guarantee whether it happened or didn't happen,' she said. 'But what I can say is, did I do things that hurt other people? Yes.' As her eyes welled with tears, the reality star reflected on the lingering pain of the situation, without confirming or denying the cheating scandal. 'To this day, does it still hurt my heart and I wonder if that's why I got cancer? Yes, like it was my payback,' she said, referencing the cancer battle after her melanoma spread to her brain and lungs.
Daily Mail
06-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Cancer-sufferer Teddi Mellencamp calls disease 'payback' for her affair and speaks about husband's infidelity
Teddi Mellencamp claims she found out that her now-estranged husband Edwin Arroyave was having an affair with a mutual friend just days before making her debut on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills in 2017. During an appearance on the latest episode of podcast The Jamie Kern Lima Show, the reality-TV star, 44, spoke about her marriage, how she's paused divorce proceedings amid her cancer battle, and claimed that her diagnosis was 'payback' for her own infidelities, which occurred after Edwin's. Teddi, who appeared as on Bravo's RHOBH until 2020, said that while she's since made her own 'huge mistakes', the discovery of Edwin's fling left her so 'broken' that she was forced to beg him to stay. Teddi said of her former spouse's affair: 'It was with somebody I knew. I mean, I'm not saying that I didn't make huge mistakes and in my marriage post that, but that broke me. 'That was the first time in my life where I was like, how will I show up every day with a smile on my face and raise these kids, and be this perfect wife and start a television show and become somebody that people like or they think is funny?' The mom-of-three explained how the betrayal affected her appearance on the show and caused her to 'fake' her way through filming in a bid to avoid the news becoming public, for the sake of their kids. Teddi said: 'My first season on Housewives, that's what I was going through. People say, "Oh, you seem kind of quiet" or "You were kind of passive" but that's not really who you are. I was like, "Well, I wasn't faking who I was, I was coping." I was so scared that someone was going to find out and ruin my family's life.' Teddi filed for divorce from husband of 13 years Edwin on November 1, and also cited irreconcilable differences. Then, in February 2025, she publicly revealed her cancer diagnosis, which caused the pair to pause divorce proceedings. Despite everything, Teddi and Edwin remained close and embarked on an amicable co-parenting relationship. Stress: During her time on the Bravo show, she was scared that someone would find out about her marital problems in case it ruined her family's life Elsewhere in the podcast chat, Teddi spoke about the alleged affair with her horse trainer Simon Schroeder, the controversy that hit the headlines late last year. She said: 'I've never talked about it at all, just because of the kids, and I've never wanted anybody to have a guarantee whether it happened or didn't happen. But what I can say is, did I do things that hurt other people? Yes.' As she got emotional, Teddi reflected on how deeply the situation had continued to affect her, without confirming or denying whether the cheating scandal occurred. Teddi said: 'To this day, does it still hurt my heart and I wonder if that's why I got cancer? Yes, like it was my payback.' She's in an ongoing battle with stage 4 cancer after her melanoma spread to her brain and lungs. Teddi said: 'Nothing goes without payment. However long it was … It was all over the press, it was everywhere. You're trying to minimize everybody's pain. You end up maximizing it because now not only do you have yourself, you have your significant other, your kids, the other person's significant other, their kids.' The allegations about her dalliance with Simon emerged while she was also going through a difficult period in her personal life. She said: 'I always knew he'd do the right thing by me. If he wanted to, he could still be filing and finishing this divorce off right now. But… it was like, "Yeah, of course. No, we'll wait. We'll wait until she's better, and then we'll figure it out."'
Daily Mail
06-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Teddi Mellencamp reveals she discovered husband Edwin Arroyave's affair with a mutual friend just days before Real Housewives debut - after tearfully claiming cancer diagnosis was 'payback' for her own infidelity
Teddi Mellencamp has claimed she discovered now estranged husband Edwin Arroyave's affair with a mutual friend just days before making her debut on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2017. During an appearance on the latest episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show, the reality star, 44, spoke about her marriage, having paused divorce proceedings amid her cancer battle, and claimed her diagnosis was 'payback' for her own infidelities. Teddi, who appeared as on Bravo's RHOBH until 2020, said that while she has since made her own 'huge mistakes' the discovery of Edwin's affair left her 'broken' and she was forced to beg him to stay. She said: 'It was with somebody I knew. I mean, I'm not saying that I didn't make huge mistakes, and in my marriage post that, but that broke me'. 'That was the first time in my life where I was like, how will I show up every day with a smile on my face and raise these kids, and be this perfect wife and start a television show and become somebody that people like or they think are funny?'. Teddi, who shares children Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5, with Edwin, went on to explain how the betrayal affected her on the Bravo show as she 'faked' her way through filming in a bid to avoid the news becoming public for the sake of her kids. 'My first season on Housewives, that's what I was going through. People say, 'Oh you seem kind of quiet or you were kind of passive or but that's not really who you are.' I was like, well I wasn't faking who I was, I was coping. I was so scared that someone was going to find out and ruin my family's life'. MailOnline have contacted Edwin's representatives for comment. Teddi filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years, on November 1, 2024, also citing irreconcilable differences. Then, in February 2025, she publicly revealed her cancer diagnosis, pausing the divorce proceedings. Despite everything, Teddi and Edwin have remained close and have a amicable co-parenting relationship. Elsewhere in the interview Teddi finally broke her silence regarding the alleged affair with her horse trainer, Simon Schroeder after the controversy hit the headlines in late 2024. She said: 'I've never talked about it at all, just because of the kids, and I've never wanted anybody to have a guarantee whether it happened or didn't happen,' Teddi explained. 'But what I can say is, did I do things that hurt other people? Yes.' As her eyes welled with tears, the mother-of-three reflected on how deeply the situation continues to affect her, without confirming or denying whether the cheating scandal occurred. 'To this day, does it still hurt my heart and I wonder if that's why I got cancer? Yes, like it was my payback,' she said, referencing her ongoing battle with stage 4 cancer after her melanoma spread to her brain and lungs. 'Nothing goes without payment,' she added. 'However long it was … it was all over the press, it was everywhere. You're trying to minimize everybody's pain. You end up maximizing it. Because now not only do you have yourself, you have your significant other, your kids, the other person's significant other, their kids.' Court records confirm that Schroeder's ex-wife, Karli Schroeder, filed for divorce on December 30, 2024, just months after rumors of an affair began circulating. The documents, obtained by People, cited irreconcilable differences and revealed that the couple had remarried on April 14, 2024, after annulling a prior marriage in February. They officially separated on September 22, 2024. The allegations involving Simon emerged while she was also going through a difficult period in her personal life. 'I always knew he'd do the right thing by me,' she said during the podcast. 'If he wanted to, he could still be filing and finishing this divorce off right now. But… it was like, 'Yeah, of course. No, we'll wait. We'll wait until she's better, and then we'll figure it out.' When asked directly about her role in the scandal, she didn't shy away from the wreckage left behind. 'I've never talked about it at all, just because of the kids, and I've never wanted anybody to have a guarantee whether it happened or didn't happen,' Mellencamp, 44, explained 'So many people are hurt in the wreckage,' she said. 'But I can say this from knowing — the wreckage doesn't happen on its own. It never had happened to me,' Teddi said. She acknowledged she was in a dark place mentally and physically during that period. 'I think I was so broken as a human being during that part of my life that I did things out of my better judgment,' she admitted. 'I was so sick.' Teddi revealed she had been experiencing 'severe and debilitating headaches' for months before doctors discovered tumors. 'I was looking for comfort anywhere I can get it. I felt so much pain. I felt so sick. I didn't go to the doctors. I just felt some certain kind of way,' she said. 'The pain was so much that I had gotten to the point of like, almost hating waking up in the morning, which I had never been that kind of person.' Still, she emphasized that illness doesn't excuse her choices. 'I wasn't myself, but I'm not going to blame my alleged actions on the fact that I was sick,' Teddi said. 'But I do think a bunch of things happened in my life all around the same time, and I had zero control of any of them. Like I just was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.'
