Former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Teddi Mellencamp “filed to divorce Edwin Arroyave” on November 1, just 12 days after October 20, the date she said they separated in divorce documents, as reported by TMZ on November 4.
According to TMZ, divorce documents show Mellencamp stated that “irreconcilable differences” were the cause of her and Arroyave’s breakup. Mellencamp has decided to seek “spousal support,” as reported by TMZ. In addition, TMZ reported that Mellencamp “is seeking primary legal and physical custody” of their daughters and son, Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 4. Mellencamp is also the stepmother of Arroyave’s eldest child, Isabella. According to TMZ, Mellencamp is not against her estranged husband getting visitation rights.
Teddi Mellencamp Revealed She & Her Now-Estranged Husband Had Broken Up on November 2
Us Weekly reported that Mellencamp took to her Instagram account on November 2 to reveal she and Arroyave were splitting.
“After a great deal of care and consideration, I have made the difficult decision to file for divorce. My priority is my children and ensuring that every care is taken with their privacy and wellbeing throughout this new chapter,” wrote Mellencamp.
Us Weekly reported that Mellencamp mentioned she and Arroyave had relationship issues while filming RHOBH season 8 during a March 2023 episode of her podcast, “Two Ts In A Pod,” co-hosted by Tamra Judge. Mellencamp said she was concerned she was going to have to tell her castmates that she was “getting a divorce.”
“It was really about a power struggle,” said Mellencamp on her podcast.
She explained that when she and Arroyave first got together they “were always kind of equals.” Mellencamp said their dynamic began changing when they started trying to have children 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. 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,” said Mellencamp on her podcast, as reported by Us Weekly.
Mellencamp made similar comments about going through relationship issues in RHOBH season 8 during an October 2023 episode of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.” She said she empathized with Kyle Richards before she announced her separation from her now-estranged husband, Mauricio Umansky, in RHOBH season 13.
“I know that my first season [on RHOBH], I was hiding something with Edwin,” said Mellencamp in the WWHL interview. “And I 99 percent thought that our marriage wasn’t going to make it.”
Mellencamp finalized her divorce from her first husband Matt Robertson in 2010, a year before she wed Arroyave.
Teddi Mellencamp Said Edwin Arroyave Made a Hurtful Comment While Filming RHOBH Season 8
In a September 2024 episode of “Two Ts In A Pod,” Mellencamp said Arroyave made a hurtful comment in an unaired RHOBH season 8 moment. Mellencamp said season 8 producers told her and her now-estranged husband to discuss having more children while filming a scene.
“We start talking about it and Edwin says the quote, ‘Then you’re going to get big again. Are you okay with that?’” said Mellencamp on her podcast episode.
According to Mellencamp, she “honestly wanted to die in that moment.” She said, however, that she refrained from getting upset at Arroyave in front of RHOBH cameras.
“Then we got into the [expletive] car, and I was like ‘I am disgusted that you said that. I’m furious that you said that. You embarrassed me, you hurt me. You know my past issues,’” said Mellencamp.
Mellencamp also said she was relieved that the 2017 moment did not make it to air, as it could have upset viewers.
“Yes that hurt me. And I’ll remember that forever. But imagine the amount of other women that’s going to hurt when it plays out,” said Mellencamp while recording the September 2024 podcast episode.
Teddi Mellencamp Asked Her Friends to Find Edwin Arroyave a Wife
Mellencamp received a stage 2 melanoma diagnosis in 2022. After she had surgery to remove a melanoma in December 2023, Mellencamp told her “Two Ts In A Pod” listeners that she had requested some of her friends, including Judge and Richards, to pick out another wife for Arroyave if she died.
In the January 2024 “Two Ts In A Pod” episode, Mellencamp said, “I had this moment where I was like, ‘I’m not going to be there for my family.’”
“I like texted Kyle and two of our other best friends. And I texted [Judge] too, and I just said, ‘You guys I need you to really be on point with who Edwin marries. And who’s going to raise my kids.’ Because I don’t trust that he can make those decisions on his own. And I really wasn’t freaking kidding,” said Mellencamp.