Teddi Mellencamp opened up for the first time about a rumored affair with her horse trainer ― and how it affected her family and her health.
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast mate spoke about her alleged infidelity during an appearance on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show.”
“I’ve never talked about it at all ― just because of the kids,” Mellencamp said during the interview, which was released Tuesday. Mellencamp, who was married at the time, shares three children with her now-ex-husband, Edwin Arroyave.
“And I’ve never wanted anybody to have a, you know, a guarantee whether it happened or didn’t happen,” the reality star said. “But what I can say is: Did I do things that hurt other people? Yes.”
“To this day, does it still hurt my heart and I wonder if that’s why I got cancer?” Mellencamp said, as she began to cry. “Yes. Like it was my payback.”
Mellencamp, who is the daughter of famous singer John Cougar Mellencamp, was diagnosed with melanoma in 2022. She recently shared that her cancer had progressed to Stage 4, as her melanoma metastasized to her lungs and brain.
“Nothing goes without payment, I guess,” she said, adding that she was “so broken as a human being during that part of my life that I did things out of my better judgment.”
During the vulnerable interview, Mellencamp also spoke about her ex-husband’s infidelity, which came to light just before she and her family starred on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
The podcaster said her husband was unfaithful with someone that she knew and that she had to “beg Edwin to wanna stay with me.”
“I don’t think he was in love with me at that point. I think we’ve gone through times in our marriage where we’ve been madly in love with each other, but that wasn’t one of those times,” she said. “And there was a while that I thought maybe I’ll leave, and then it got better.”
Mellencamp filed for divorce from Arroyave in November 2024 and announced the news on Instagram.
“After a great deal of care and consideration, I have made the difficult decision to file for divorce,” she said at the time. “My priority is my children and ensuring that every care is taken with their privacy and wellbeing throughout this new chapter.”
The former couple share three children together: Slate, 12; Cruz, 10; and Dove, 5.