John Mellencamp says daughter Teddi's 'going through hell' as he reveals new details on cancer battle

John Mellencamp says he’s doing everything he can to support daughter Teddi amid her treatment for stage 4 cancer.

The 74-year-old rocker said he’s talking to the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum “every day” as “she’s been going through hell the last year.”

“She has 10 lesions in her brain … even though the lesions are not cancerous right now, they still interrupt her thinking, and it’s in her frontal lobe,” he told People in a new interview published Saturday.

John Mellencamp says he’s doing everything he can to support daughter Teddi amid her treatment for stage 4 cancer. Teddimellencamp/Instagram
The 74-year-old rocker said he’s talking to the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum “every day” as “she’s been going through hell the last year.” NBC

Teddi was able to have some lesions removed, but she’s still undergoing radiation therapy for those that remain.

“The lesions are still there, but the cancer’s not,” John explained. “But that doesn’t mean she’s home free; it just means right now there’s no cancer. So she has to keep on this treatment for who knows how many years.”

Teddi said something similar on the Oct. 3 episode of her and Tamra Judge’s podcast, “Two Ts in a Pod,” when she revealed that despite having “no detectable cancer” anymore, she would continue immunotherapy for at least a year.

“She has 10 lesions in her brain … even though the lesions are not cancerous right now, they still interrupt her thinking, and it’s in her frontal lobe,” he told People. edwinarroyaveofficial/Instagram
Teddi was able to have some lesions removed, but she’s still undergoing radiation therapy for those that remain. Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images

John further told People that Teddi’s “personality has changed” throughout her cancer battle due to complications and side effects. “She’s still the same person, but she’s not the same person. It’s not fun.”

John’s new reveal comes one day after he publicly urged Teddi to move “back home.”

The singer told “Today” show viewers Friday that he’s “try[ing] to talk her into” relocating from Los Angeles to Indiana, though the Bravolebrity, 44, “won’t do it.”

While chatting with Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer and Craig Melvin, John also issued a worrying update on Teddi’s health, saying, “You cant say you’re cancer-free with the type of cancer she’s got for three years.”

“She feels good until she takes that [immunotherapy] and then she feels like hell for about four days, and then she feels normal.”

“The lesions are still there, but the cancer’s not,” John explained. YouTube/@@joerogan
“But that doesn’t mean she’s home free; it just means right now there’s no cancer. So she has to keep on this treatment for who knows how many years.” teddimellencamp/Instagram

Earlier in the week, John further opened up on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and said Teddi’s “really sick.”

She’s “suffering” and “it’s not f–king fun,” he added.

After the interview, Teddi confirmed on her own podcast Thursday that she is indeed “struggling with massive PTSD.”

Teddi was initially diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in 2022 and underwent more than 15 surgeries battling the disease.

Teddi was initially diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in 2022 and underwent more than 15 surgeries battling the disease. Instagram/Teddi Mellencamp
She then underwent emergency surgery in February 2025 when several tumors were discovered in her brain. By October 2025, the cancer was “gone.” Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave/Instagram

She then underwent emergency surgery in February 2025 when several tumors were discovered in her brain.

At the time, Teddi was given a 50 percent chance of survival, and her dad started planning her burial.

By that October, however, Teddi’s stage 4 cancer, which had also spread to her lungs, was “gone.”

“I’m not considered in remission or anything like that,” Teddi clarified to podcast listeners at the time. “The way the [doctors] said it works, it’s like one year, then two years, then at three years you’re allowed to be considered … in remission.”

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