RHOBH’s Teddi Mellencamp Dishes on Housewives Creating Fake Storylines, Cast Salary, & Why She Wouldn’t Return

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Teddi Mellencamp looked back on her time on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills while appearing on a podcast earlier this month.

As she addressed the behavior of certain cast members, explained how they are paid, and revealed if she’d be open to returning for a future season of the Bravo reality show, Teddi, 44, opened up about her friendship with Kyle Richards, 56, shared her biggest fears, and admitted to being rejected by the dating app Raya.

“I think there’s three types of housewives,” Teddi began on the August 12 episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show.

According to Teddi, there are the “funny” housewives, who don’t have to try, the “worker bees,” who make things happen when the opportunity for drama presents itself, and the “forward thinkers” who create storylines.

“[They] are three steps ahead of the game. So they’re creating a storyline that we’re not even realizing we’re blaming somebody else for,” Teddi explained. “They’re doing that because they wanna stay clean [and] wanna stay not being hated … [But] you get like two seasons of being able to do that, and then it’s like, okay, we got it. We see what you’re doing here, and we’re bored.”

After noting that some members of the show “understand the assignment” and “[want] the show to be good,” Teddi added that others don’t feel the obligation to perform.

She also admitted that there’s a certain point at which the money from the series becomes addictive.

“The longer that you’re on the Housewives, the more money you’re gonna make. And you know that there’s like a standard, you hit five years, you hit six years, you hit, you know, like whatever it may be. And so I think there’s, there’s that aspect to it too,” she reasoned. 

Although Teddi couldn’t say what cast members are paid, she confirmed that “all first-season Housewives are paid the same.”

“So the people that say, ‘Oh, I got offered $10 million to be on season one of the Real Housewives,’ I’m like, no, you didn’t.”

When asked if she would be open to returning, Teddi, who is in the midst of a cancer battle, said, “No.”

“So for all those people that think they saw me in Sedona … you didn’t,” she stated. “I don’t have the bandwidth for it right now. And I’m not somebody that likes to do something when I can’t be good at it.”

“Some days I’m like just stumbling word over word. And I would hate to be on a show like that and have somebody think that I was not being honest,” she continued. “And then [for] them [to] get the heat for it because how could you do that to someone that has cancer? I don’t think it would be the best for the cast, and it wouldn’t be the best for me right now.”

As for a potential return in the future, Teddi said, “I don’t know that I need to be on that particular show again, but I would love to be on TV in some capacity.”

Moving on to her friendship with Kyle, Teddi had all good things to say about how Kyle had been there for her amid her health crisis.

“She’s been such an incredible friend, the amount of things that she has [done] … just been there for me. And oftentimes they say, you know, you need laughter. She’s given me laughter. She’s given me true friendship. She’s been there for my kids. She was there in the hospital on the days that I was wrecked and the days that I was lonely,” she revealed. “So much kindness has come from her, and like she is just a person that, like, it’s the small things that I could be like, ‘Gosh, I’m really craving these tacos that you make,’ and she’ll be like, ‘Be here in 20.’”

“She’s been such a good friend to me, but also calls me out when I need it,” Teddi added.

Of all the things that Teddi has on her plate as she fights to beat cancer, Teddi said that, aside from the “most obvious,” she is scared of “feeling alone.”

“I have so many friends and family that are there for me, where some people, you know, aren’t blessed with that. So it’s like, I, I need to get this out of my head, but just knowing that I could pick up the phone and talk to somebody at any point in time or say like, ‘Can you bring me my favorite smoothie?’ is huge. So I have a fear of being alone,” she explained.

Weeks after being linked to Ricci Rea, Teddi is taking a break from dating after being rejected by Raya.

“I tried to get on Raya, but I really didn’t get in. Neither did [Erika Jayne] … We don’t know why,” she shared. “We’re like, are we controversial? Like, why didn’t we get in? Are we too old? Is it ’cause I’m not an Insta model? Why didn’t I get in? And nobody from Raya has ever responded.”

Also on the podcast, Teddi said that when it came to her own show, Two Ts in a Pod, which she co-hosts with Tamra Judge, 57, she is not worried about offending anyone.

“I would say none of us necessarily care about that because that’s what we’re being paid to do,” she reasoned. “I know the job that I have. That’s to go on and, you know, be a little shady, be a little funny, say some, you know, ridiculous things, and kind of move on from it.”

Teddi Mellencamp was featured in a full-time role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from season eight through season 10 and has made a number of guest appearances in the years since.