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Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/MediaPunch/INSTARimages

Former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp has had a challenging time over the last several months. Not only is she going through a divorce from Edwin Arroyave, but she’s also battling cancer. Recently, she sat down with her dear friend Kyle Richards and discussed her health journey.

Regarding her love life, it was announced in November of 2024 that Teddi, 44, and Edwin, 48, were divorcing. Despite this, they have seemingly remained on good terms, and they have been open about him being a source of support throughout her battle with cancer.

Kyle recently interviewed Teddi for a Glamour feature called My Friend Teddi. One of the first questions Kyle asked was how Teddi finds support and self-care while at her lowest. 

The Two Ts In a Pod co-host said, “I think the old me would have said, ‘I’m working out every day! I’m doing this and that….’ I’ve found a lot of support in my friendships and my children, but I’ve had to learn throughout all these different diagnoses, with not feeling my best and not physically being able to do all the things I want to be able to do, the power of no.”

“The fact that I have the strength to say, ‘No, I can’t. I physically can’t do that’—and having people in my life that support those nos—has been incredible,” Teddi continued.

She added, “I always had the fear that if I say no, it may be the last time they ask, or maybe I won’t get that next job, or what if I upset my friend, my kids, or whomever it is? But everyone in my life has shown up and said, ‘Teddi, that’s something you need to do, and you’ve always needed to do it.’ It has changed my life, being able to say no.”

Regarding what she does for self-care, Teddi revealed, “With self-care, I love to take a good bath. I love to go on a walk with my friends and laugh. I love to ride horses. On the days I’m feeling good, I try to do all the things that I know are going to bring me happiness because each day isn’t guaranteed. I may wake up one day and feel amazing, and then the next feel terrible. So I take advantage of those moments when I feel good.”

Kyle also asked Teddi about the experience of parenting amid her health journey. According to her, “Some days are extremely difficult, because I can still remember what I used to be like before, and I want to still be all of those things to my kids. And I can’t. I am so lucky that I have such smart, loving, resilient children who have been there for me through all of this. ”

“There are some days where I’m at every single activity and feel like the old me,” Teddi added. “But there are others where I cry and get upset. I feel hurt and so sad that I have to write on a piece of paper what my kids’ days are going to entail, and none of it involves me because I can’t do it.”

“Some days I can’t even write on the paper. Parenting has been a lot of communication with my kids, my friends, and my family, saying, ‘This is what I need,’” Teddi said. She also stated that she now has a different view of quality time with her kids and that she understands that watching a movie or television show with them still counts. 

The former RHOBH star also opened up about accepting that her appearance would change. She told Kyle, “I was worried about my kids seeing me and me not being able to remember certain things or not being able to have the same type of conversations we used to have.”

Teddi continued, “And then, I don’t know if it’s vanity or human nature, but there was a part of me that was concerned about my physical appearance in regards to seeing my friends or going out in public. I still work on it, and there’s moments where I feel shame, like, Wow, this is as good as it’s going to get today.”

She added, “You have to be okay with things changing like that. I mean, I still use sarcasm a lot to get through some of the pain. I’m lucky that I have friends that aren’t like, ‘Don’t say that.’ They’ll laugh with me, because it makes it easier.” When Kyle asked Teddi how she goes about working through “feelings of shame,” she said she does it with laughter.

Regarding what milestones she’s looking forward to, Teddi shared, “I’m patiently awaiting the day that I go into the doctor’s office and they say, ‘You’re cancer-free.’ I thought that when my tumors were shrinking that it meant that I would go back to feeling like the old me and that I was done.”

She continued, “Other milestones I’m looking forward to? I don’t want to take for granted things like the fact that I was able to go away with my kids for the Fourth of July. That’s a pretty big deal, considering a couple months ago I didn’t know if I was going to get out of that hospital.”

Teddi went on, “I don’t look ahead that much. I try to keep it more present. I have smaller milestones. I get excited for the kids, about riding horses, or if I book a new job—all the things that used to get me excited still get me excited, because it shows what I can do.”

Toward the end of the interview, Kyle asked Teddi about her uncanny ability to remain so calm throughout this process and where it came from. According to Teddi, “Part of it was me not knowing the negatives of the situation and just going off my gut feeling. Something inside me told me, ‘You’re going to survive. You’re going to make it through this.’ Of course, I have days where I feel doubt and feel worried, but I just told myself to keep showing up.”

“I had a conversation with someone who told me, ‘I had the same cancer as you, and I didn’t leave my bed for six months to a year. How are you doing this?’ And I said, ‘To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know that was an option,’” Teddi said.

She added, “I’ve always struggled with anxiety, and I can get depressed. So I was always concerned with making sure that my mental health was as good as possible. I would make sure on the days that I felt good, I accomplished the things that I knew would give me more strength.”

They also discussed an “oops moment” they shared when Kyle asked Teddi for her opinion on how her hair looked. Notably, this was after Teddi had lost her hair due to treatment. Kyle said, “And then right away, you looked at me and said, ‘Oh sh**.’ We both started crying laughing because it’s just something we’re so used to doing.”

Teddi then added, “You know what? I think I’ve had bigger oops moments. But no, with the hair, it’s weird the things that would upset me. People would write to me, ‘Why did you shave your head?’ I remember getting really upset by it because I’d be like, ‘I lost my hair. I shaved the parts that I didn’t lose.’”

Regarding life advice for others, Teddi shared, “Something I really want to drive home is, get your life insurance before you’re sick. I can’t get it now. I always thought I’ll do it when I’m older, and then never did. I couldn’t get it back in the days when I only had melanoma on my shoulder. If you get anything from this interview, it’s to get yourself some life insurance and some friends you can laugh with.”