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, which occurred after her husband's.
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 appearance on the show as she 'faked' her way through filming in a bid to avoid the news becoming public for the sake of her kids.
Teddi Mellencamp has claimed she discovered now estranged husband Edwin Arroyave's affair with a friend just days before making her debut on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
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 (pictured with Edwin in 2019)
Teddi (left) pictured on the show with (L-R) Lisa Vanderpump in 2018
'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.
Teddi, who appeared as on Bravo's RHOBH from 2017 until 2020, said that while she has since made her own 'mistakes' the discovery of the affair left her 'broken'
Teddi went on to explain how the betrayal affected her on the Bravo show as she 'faked' her way through filming for the sake of her kids (pictured on the show)
Teddi filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years citing irreconcilable differences. Then she publicly revealed her cancer diagnosis (pictured together 2022)
'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.'
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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.
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
'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
Despite everything Teddi and Edwin have remained close and have a amicable co-parenting relationship (pictured 2019)
'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.'
