Teddi Mellencamp took to her Instagram Story on Thursday to set the record straight about comments her dad, musician John Mellencamp, made about her potential burial.
As she continues to battle cancer, which has spread to both her brain and her lungs, the 43-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star clarified her discussion with John, 73, after joking about where she would be buried and what would be written on her tombstone on a recent episode of her podcast.
“I need to clarify that this was a light-hearted conversation, laughing the whole time. I am personally doing well right now, and yes, having to deal with things I wouldn’t otherwise but the way this is being portrayed isn’t accurate,” Teddi wrote in her April 10 post. “Do you think wanting ‘hot girls never die’ on my mausoleum is the result of a sad conversation[?]”
“I appreciate helping to share my story but I would love for the headlines to be indicative of what really happened,” she added, encouraging her fans and followers to listen to the full conversation.
On Wednesday’s episode of Two Ts in a Pod, Teddi spoke to co-host Tamra Judge, 56, about her health battle and her father’s reaction.
“Yesterday my dad calls 11 times in a row,” Teddi revealed to Tamra during the April 9 episode, via E! News. “Finally, I answer, I’m like, ‘I’m in the bath. Let me live a little. Like let me enjoy.’ He goes, ‘I just want to make sure you’re going to be in our group family mausoleum.’”
“He’s like, ‘Well there’s gonna be the top five, and then we’re gonna have little areas around it and then that’s where everyone’s gonna get buried,’” she continued.
Teddi shared that after questioning John about how soon she’d need to make a decision about where she would be buried, he told her that she should do so as she writes out her will.
“He goes, ‘Well you’re doing your will right now, so you may as well put it in there,’” she explained.
Then, after Tamra asked if the mausoleum was in John’s home state of Indiana, Teddi confirmed, “Yes, you’re gonna have to visit my grave there.”
Teddi, who shares three children, including Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5, with ex-husband Edwin Arroyave, 47, also joked about the “demands” she’d been making in regard to her possible death.
“Somebody said a quote to me the other day that seriously made me laugh so hard, I cried,” Teddi recalled. “So the person I barely know, they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve heard about you know, lots of people have heard about what happened.’ And he goes, ‘You want to know the good news? Hot girls never die.’”
“I was like, that’s going on my tombstone,” she added.
Earlier this month, Teddi offered an update on her health as she thanked her online audience for the support they’ve been giving her.
“I woke up to so many kind messages,” Teddi shared in a video. “I just want to say thank you guys so much. So many messages about how strong I am. And I gotta tell you, some days I feel really, really strong and some days I feel really, really sad and alone. And I think that’s a normal part of what any of us are going through, and that’s okay. Stage 4 cancer can be scary.”
“I’m just thinking about all the goals that I have for the future for myself and for my kids,” she noted.
