Teddi Mellencamp Spills on Fake ‘Real Housewives’ Storylines, Paychecks, and Possible Return originally appeared on Parade.
Teddi Mellencamp is pulling back the curtain on how The Real Housewives franchise really works.
On the latest episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show, Mellencamp — who joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in Season 8 and appeared for three seasons — broke down what she sees as the three types of housewives, including those who actively create drama to shape the show’s narrative.
“I think there’s three types of housewives,” she said. “Just some housewives that are just funny and it just flows off of them and it’s just excellent and it comes off pretty well for them in general.”
She continued: “Then I think there’s the people that they can’t help themselves. Like they’re worker bees… they’re gonna make things happen regardless of how it may bite them in the butt later. They’re gonna go in, take control… then I think there’s people that are just really forward thinkers… so they’re creating storyline that we’re not even realizing we’re blaming somebody else for.”
When asked if the high stakes were all about being relevant and interesting for the sake of staying on the show, Mellencamp offered her own view.
“No, they’re doing that because they wanna stay clean,” she said, stressing that the housewives mostly want to not be hated by the public or their fellow cast members, “as long as they’re not caught creating” the drama.
“The last couple seasons, there’s a couple housewives that you could tell, like, pandered to the public — and it never ends well,” she added. “You get 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.”
Lima followed up with: “When you’re a cast member on one of these shows, does everyone just understand the assignment — that they have to be, you know, whatever dramatic, interesting, like accusatory, whatever it might be?”
“People understand the assignment, but it still doesn’t change what your sensitivity level is,” Mellencamp replied. “Something that hurts my feelings may devastate you.”
Mellencamp also addressed the financial side of reality TV.
“All of us can say there’s a small addiction to making money, so the longer that you’re on the Housewives, the more money you’re gonna make,” she said. “All first season housewives are paid the same. So the people that say, ‘Oh, I got offered $10 million to be on Season 1 of the Real Housewives,’ I’m like, no, you didn’t. No one did. Season 1 housewives, we were all paid the same.”
While Mellencamp now co-hosts the Two T’s in a Pod podcast with Tamra Judge, she hasn’t ruled out returning to RHOBH.
She made it clear she knows what the job entails: “I know the job that I have,” she said. “Go on and, you know, be a little shady, be a little funny, say some, you know, ridiculous things.”
Her goal now, she said, is simple: “Right now, me just living my life trying to be as happy, as healthy as I can and make as much money as I can.”
Teddi Mellencamp Spills on Fake ‘Real Housewives’ Storylines, Paychecks, and Possible Return first appeared on Parade on Aug 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
