Teddi Mellencamp Slams Critics of Her Decision to Date During Stage 4 Cancer Battle

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum slammed the criticism she has been receiving online about her choosing to date and even adopt a dog at this time.

"People have been coming for me for fostering a dog and dating," the 43-year-old reality star said in the June 11 episode of her and Tamra Judge's Two T's in a Pod podcast.

Teddi then shared some of the comments she had received online, "Like, 'The only thing she should be worrying about right now are her kids and staying alive. How in the world could she be dating?'"

Tamra told those who have opinions along those lines to "f--k off."

"There's not a day that you're not worried about your health, getting better, doing everything that you can do and spending time constantly with your children," Judge added. "Like, shut the f--k up, honestly. If you wanna date, life doesn't stop because you have cancer."

As Teddi's new relationship made headlines, BFF Kyle Richards also shared her opinion on one publication's Instagram post about Teddi's need to "defend" herself for her actions.

"The fact that she even has to defend herself..." Kyle wrote in the comments, referring to the absurdity of it all.

In November 2024, the reality star filed for divorce from her husband, Edwin Arroyave, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split.

The pair put their divorce on pause, however, when the mother-of-three was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma in February 2025, and diagnosed with several stage 4 brain tumors in her head and two tumors in her lungs.

She and Edwin share three kids, Slate, Cruz and Dove.

Teddi's doctor has even seen some of the criticism she's faced, Mellencamp explained on the podcast.

"My doctor said, 'Now that I follow you on Instagram, I see some of the stuff that people write,'" she recalled of their conversation.

"I really don't want you to think about your cancer as terminal," she said the doctor told her. "Just because that happened to somebody’s friend, aunt, brother, or cousin doesn’t mean that's what's happening to you. You should be having fun and trying to laugh."

Earlier in the episode, Teddi also gave a health update.

Per Mellencamp, the tumors in her brain have "not grown" -- despite her initial fears, as she found she was getting headaches again -- and that she is in "one percent range of improvement."

"I'm at least feeling better, in the way that I'm working out four or five times a week. Fostering this new puppy has been really nice and it's given the kids a new source of happiness," she added.

In April, Teddi confirmed on an episode of her Two T's in a Pod podcast, that she is dating somebody ... but came shy of revealing his identity.

"I'm dating somebody," she verified. "He's taking good care of me. He's nice, he's not married, he doesn't have any kids. But he's also a private person."

"He doesn't stay at the house with the kids, but like he, we go to workouts together, we've gone on dates, he's been really nice, he's very kind to me," she added.

The confirmation comes after she and her mystery man were photographed sharing PDA while on a walk in Los Angeles (see photos here).