Teddi Mellencamp Insists Lisa Vanderpump 'Set Up' PuppyGate, Claims Death Threats from Fans (Exclusive)

Teddi Mellencamp-Arroyave was the quiet, nonconfrontational daughter of a famous musician when she joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" last year. Now, she's managed to find herself smack dab in the middle of the biggest, most convoluted storyline of Season 9: PuppyGate.

Although Teddi has copped to her involvement in the beginning stages of what she vehemently believes was a Lisa Vanderpump-orchestrated plot to make co-star Dorit Kemsley look bad, she feels she's taken ownership, said her apologies and righted her wrongs since. She told TooFab she was "shocked" LVP -- who was once very good friends with her "Teddy Bear" -- didn't do the same.

"I was shocked that Lisa Vanderpump didn't take ownership so that we could just move right along," Teddi explained. "All that needed to be said was, 'Yes, I was upset. Things got out of hand. Let's move on.' And then we would've been done."

When we asked Teddi if she thought she'd ever hear those words from Vanderpump, she chuckled and said, "No. But I can coexist, and I can be cordial. You're not gonna be best friends with every person in your life, and that is okay. I'm not really looking to build a stronger relationship with her, but if I'm in a situation where we're in a group setting, I can handle it."

On Tuesday's episode of "RHOBH," Teddi confronted Lisa with a cropped screenshot of a text message conversation she had with the man who runs Vanderpump Dogs' charity events, John Blizzard. The text from John seemingly confirmed Lisa told him to fill Teddi in on the whole Dorit-dog situation so that the story would be "out there" and Lisa's hands would remain clean. Teddi caught a lot of heat on social media from fans wondering why the screenshot was cropped.

At the end of the episode, Lisa's husband, Ken Todd, threw viewers for a loop when he told his wife he had Blizzard print out his entire conversation with Teddi. We didn't get the best look at the receipts, but according to Ken, Teddi told John, "Have the dog there and I can say it looks like Dorit's dog. Either way, it will come out."

As soon as the episode wrapped, Teddi shared more text message conversations from Blizzard on both Twitter and her blog, relaying her version of events. She told fans she cropped the initial image so that the message from Blizzard was easier to see. She told us, "I believe [Ken] didn't show all of the messages, which is why I tweeted out some additional messages. I have a feeling you'll see some additional ones if you keep watching the show."

"I have a completely clear conscience," she said. "I know that a lot of hands weren't clean in all this, but I know exactly why it was set up. I have every single detail. I have it in writing. I believe that the show is going to show that. I'm not playing dirty, I'm just being honest."

Teddi also wanted us to know that she and John Blizzard were never as close as Vanderpump or the show portrayed them to be.

"We were never friends. We were acquaintances. We would laugh and talk about TV shows when we would see one another, but I never hung out with him outside of a Vanderpump event," Teddi explained. "So me being contacted originally by him to be given that story was because Lisa wanted to text Dorit, 'Teddi knows.' Lisa wanted the story out there. I think that she enjoys feeling like she's on top and that we are all these petty people below her. I think the big thing is that she cares more about what the audience thinks than her friends. When you play to what you want the audience to think, you don't care who you railroad. And I almost fell for it! I was almost as bad as she was."

"I couldn't have lived with myself not telling the truth, so if I have to get some hate mail and some death threats because I end up telling the truth, it is what it is," she said. "But that's how I have a clear conscience ... I'm not gonna hide because Lisa Vanderpump has an army out to get me."

Teddi told us some of the death threats she's received include messages like, "I wish you would die" and "You're a vile, disgusting human being."

"I want fans to be able to pick favorites and have opinions. I embrace it! I think that's what you sign up for," she said. "But what you don't sign up for is people going to that level. Last year, when I saw people going to that level with Dorit -- even when her and I weren't in a good place -- I tweeted out, 'Hey, guys. Take it easy. Nobody needs the heat and abuse you guys are giving this woman right now because we're all human beings.' And you know who hasn't done that this season? Lisa Vanderpump, and it's probably because she's enjoying it."

John Sessa, the executive director of Vanderpump Dogs, inserted himself into this mess on the Season 9 premiere when he brought out -- in front of Teddi and Kyle Richards -- the dog Dorit had adopted from their rescue center. Dorit said the dog bit her children and husband and was therefore not a good fit for her family, so she gave her to someone she believed would provide a better home. According to Dorit's version of events, she told Lisa "immediately" after, and LVP was seemingly fine with it. But a few days later, the dog ended up at a shelter. Sessa claims it was a kill shelter in Orange County; Dorit says it was not.

John recently went on the record to say Lisa absolutely did not put him up to his role in PuppyGate, but Teddi feels differently.

"People are getting the Johns confused," she said with a laugh. "There were multiple phone calls where it was like, 'Hold on, I'm on the other line with John Sessa and Lisa. Let me get back to you. Blah, blah, blah.' Like, there was constant communication. It was a team effort. There is not one ounce of me that doesn't think Lisa, John Sessa and John Blizzard all had open conversations and dialogue. I was there! I was a part of it."

"And truthfully, this isn't about the dog," Teddi said. "If it was about a dog, when Dorit called Lisa Vanderpump and said, 'I gave this dog away to this woman that PK knows,' Lisa would've said, 'Okay, we're going to a home check right now on this woman,' or, 'Dorit, get that dog back and bring it into Vanderpump Dogs right now,' but she didn't because this has always been about the story, not about the dog."

Teddi told us Lisa "filmed the show until she got caught," hinting that we may be seeing less of LVP in the episodes to come. "You've seen as much as I've seen, but I personally did not film with Lisa Vanderpump after a certain time," she said.

Teddi was very careful to not spill too much about what will come of PuppyGate because, as she said, she's contractually obligated to not "give away what happens in future episodes." She also said she's "not allowed" to respond to every person who contacts her on social media about the ordeal, which she said "eats away" at her because she wants to be able to clear her name "on every detail."

"Part of the requirement of doing this show is you have to wait and watch how things play out," she said. "The thing that I can live with is this: Yes, I made some mistakes. I owned those mistakes, and I apologized for them. That's how you can move on. That's how relationships can be mended."

When we asked Teddi if she feels she'll be vindicated by the end of the season, she said, "I know in my heart of hearts that this is something that [Lisa] put together. Only time will tell if that will play out on screen."

Teddi's also "not at all" nervous about filming the reunion, telling us, "I know the truth. I live in that. I've said I'm sorry for the things I've done wrong. And the beauty of telling the truth is you don't have to remember anything because you lived it."

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

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