Teddi Mellencamp’s father wants her to leave Los Angeles as she battles Stage 4 cancer.
During a recent interview with TODAY, John Cougar Mellencamp revealed he had tried convincing Teddi to move “back home” to Indiana along with her children, Slate, Cruz, and Dove, whom she shares with her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave. But it seems The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum has no interest in bidding farewell to the West Coast.
“I said, ‘Move back to Indiana,” the rock legend continued, “bring the kids and just come back and live in Indiana,’ but she won’t do it.”
In 2022, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum was diagnosed with Stage 2 melanoma, marking the beginning of a years-long battle that included more than a dozen biopsies and surgical excisions. Fast-forward to February 2025, when Teddi revealed her cancer had metastasized, resulting in multiple tumors on her brain and lungs.
“How is she doing?” host Al Roker asked John about Teddi.
“[She’s] suffering,” John replied. “To be quite honest.”
John Mellencamp makes a rare statement on Teddi Mellencamp’s Stage 4 cancer
In October 2025 — after undergoing multiple surgeries, radiation rounds, and immunotherapy treatments — Teddi announced there was “no detectable cancer” in her body; however, she made it clear that her battle was far from over, as she still had another year of immunotherapy.
“You can’t say you’re cancer-free with the type of cancer she’s got for three years,” John explained. “So she has lesions in her brain. It went from her back, just a little, teeny spot on her. Over the last couple of years, it grew, and it got inside her brain and her lungs.”
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John Mellecamp sheds light on Teddi Mellencamp’s cancer treatments
John went on to say that Teddi has plenty of “good days” in which she feels fine, but that all changes once she begins immunotherapy.
“She feels like hell for about four days” before “feeling normal again,” he explained.
John made similar comments during his January 14 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, explaining just how difficult Teddi’s health journey has been.
“I have a daughter who is really sick,” he told the host. “It’s not f—ing fun. She’s got cancer in the brain, and she’s suffering right now.”
Teddi Mellencamp gives health update nearly a year after her tumor diagnosis
Teddi shared a health update in the January 15 episode of her podcast series, Two Ts in a Pod. The broadcast marked Teddi’s much-anticipated return to the show, as she took a months-long hiatus to focus on her family and health.
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“I’ve been doing a lot of therapy, a lot of rest, a lot of hanging with the family,” she told her co-host, The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Tamra Judge. “A lot of trying to get myself together because, apparently, I’m struggling with massive PTSD… from everything that happened. I didn’t really realize it, so I’m starting to feel a little better. The cloud is lifting… Everything’s good as it can be.”
Get more details on Teddi’s health journey and the support she’s received from her good friend/former castmate Kyle Richards.
