‘RHOBH’s Teddi Mellencamp and Edwin Arroyave Came Close to Divorce: ‘It Was Really About a Power Struggle’
Teddi Mellencamp was a fixture on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where fans got an inside look at her home life with husband Edwin Arroyave. But behind the scenes, Mellencamp and Arroyave’s marriage was going through a rough patch as they continued to present themselves on screen.
Teddi Mellencamp and Edwin Arroyave appeared on ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
Teddi Mellencamp joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in its eighth season in 2017 and remained a main cast member on the show through its tenth season in 2020. She has four children with her husband Edwin Arroyave, whom she married in 2011: Slate, Dove, and Cruz, and step-daughter Isabella.
Mellencamp came to RHOBH with a notable last name. She’s the daughter of singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. Arroyave, meanwhile, works in security management.
Teddi Mellencamp had marital problems while on ‘RHOBH’
In March 2023, Mellencamp welcomed Arroyave to her podcast with The Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge, Two Ts in a Pod. Judge, meanwhile, invited her husband Eddie Judge to the show. In the special husband episode, Mellencamp opened up about her past marital issues and how she and Arroyave worked hard to overcome them.
“When we first started [filming The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills], I remember my first day honestly it was like ‘F***, at what point do I tell everybody that I’m getting a divorce? Like when do I do this?’” Teddi admitted on the podcast. “We are at our worst absolute phase, because, truthfully, for us, it was really about a power struggle.”
Mellencamp admitted that when she joined the RHOBH cast in 2017, she was in a “weaker position” than Arroyave. They have three kids together, Slate, Dove, and Cruz, as well as step-daughter Isabella from Arroyave’s previous marriage. Mellencamp most recently gave birth to Dove in 2020.
“We were always kind of equals when we were together. I rode horses, I was competitive, and I was all these things. Then I couldn’t get pregnant naturally. I did all these IVFs,” Mellencamp explained. “Then, all of a sudden, he was in charge of our finances, and I had never been that. I never not had my own money. I had been working since I was 17. Then I just started hating him.”
Mellencamp was considering a divorce, but she ultimately got to a better place with herself and with Arroyave. “Once I started loving myself again, we could start loving each other because when I don’t love myself we don’t love each other,” she confessed.
Arroyave, for his part, believes that The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills brought them even closer.
“Everybody said the show is going to divide you, instead it actually united us,” he shared. “It’s the importance of when you actually work on your marriage you’ll remember how much you love it. For a long time, you’ll start to dislike it … I didn’t work on my marriage for a while so I was starting to dislike it and the show made me work on it.”
Their marriage today
Mellencamp is no longer on the show, and has been focused on other ventures, such as her podcast with Judge. Arroyave, meanwhile, has continued to dedicate himself to his work and his family.
