Credit: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins, Sara De Boer/startraksphoto, Instagram
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp has had a rough time lately, as she has been bravely battling stage four melanoma that had spread to her brain and lungs.
While it seemed like an uphill battle, Teddi revealed she had “no detectable cancer” last October.
Recently, Teddi, 45, sat down for an interview with Extra, where she talked about her disease.
“You know, some days I feel great, and some days I feel really low,” she shared. “That’s one thing I didn’t really realize. People think once you get through radiation and then you’re on to… chemotherapy or… immunotherapy, then…you’re healed.”
“And you’re like, ‘No, I’m still in the midst of it,'” she added.
Teddi went on to share some positive news, namely, she can’t say she’s “in remission” but can say she’s “cancer-free for right now.”
She also shared that she will have to undergo 10 more months of immunotherapy.
As for where she draws energy from to help her through the process of dealing with such a tough situation, Teddi noted that “being open and vulnerable about the process” helps.
“On the bad days, I’ll talk to my family or my friends, and I’ll be like, ‘This is a really hard day, and like it has nothing to do with you, but I am really struggling,'” she said. “And something about being able to share that and not being judged…then the next day you’re like, ‘I can do this.'”
Aside from her health battle, the topic of Leah Remini joining RHOBH came up.
“I think she’s going to be amazing,” Teddi stated. “Well, first I was like excited about Tracy Tutor, but then once I heard Leah Remini, I was like, ‘Well, now we’ve got a multitude of big personalities coming in.’ And that’s what they need, because I think for the last couple years we’ve seen a couple of big personalities, but we need to kind of split that mold.”
While Teddi is excited for the cast, she admitted she doesn’t think she would go back to RHOBH herself.
“I filmed a bit for Orange County this year, and it’s just, I think it’s more my speed,” she explained. “It’s more like… you know, Beverly Hills, I was always, you know, significantly younger. There was like – I never was going to live up to the lifestyle of it all, and trying to do that didn’t make me feel great about myself. Like I was like, ‘No, I’m never going to have that new Birkin bag.’ No, I’m not going to be like, ‘Oh, look at my Hermès.'”
Finally, the topic of her new younger boyfriend, PJ Conley, came up.
Teddi, 45, hard-launched their romance on Instagram in August.
“It’s good!” she gushed about her relationship with the 31-year-old man.
She noted that she’s had to “adjust,” as she was used to being married to her estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, whom she mentioned also has a new girlfriend.
“He’s really fun,” she later said. “It’s like one of those things where I am able to look forward to something to do after 4:00 p.m., which is very difficult.”
Fans of Teddi’s can catch her on the Two T’s in a Pod podcast with RHOC star Tamra Judge, which drops multiple times per week.