Teddi Mellencamp Reveals What 'Irrational' Thing She's 'Most Fearful' of After Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis (Exclusive)

Mellencamp also explains why she wouldn't rejoin 'RHOBH' right now, saying she has "very bad" days where she is "stumbling word over word" due to her cancer treatments, and she wouldn't want others to think she's "not being honest" because of it

Teddi Mellencamp is opening up about her fears and her future.

In PEOPLE's exclusive look at the third part of her appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, which drops Tuesday, Aug. 12, Mellencamp gives a flat-out "no" when asked if she would return to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills right now amid her stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

"Yeah, no. I don't have the bandwidth for it right now," she says. "I'm not somebody that likes to do something when I can't be good at it."

The reality star, 44, goes on to explain that the treatment she has received for the tumors in her brain have caused some challenges, and she wouldn't want others to misinterpret her actions because of that.

"I feel like my words are a little stuttery sometimes and it doesn't mean I'm telling a lie," she notes. "Some people have to relearn to talk after having these surgeries that I had. The fact that I can do as much as I can do, I'm so blessed for. But it still happens to me, and some days are very bad."

"Some days, I'm just stumbling word over word," she continues. "And I would hate to be on a show like that and have somebody think that I was not being honest and really I was just struggling. And then them get the heat for it because how could you do that to someone that has cancer?"

"I don't think it would be the best for the cast, and it wouldn't be the best for me right now," she adds.

Mellencamp was a main cast member for seasons 8 through 10 of RHOBH, with her three seasons airing between 2017 and 2020.

Though returning to the series in the immediate future is a hard no for Mellencamp, host Jamie Kern Lima asks if she would ever return to the franchise at some point in the future.

To that, the reality star admits she doesn't know.

"I enjoy it so much now that I recap it," she says, referring to her Two T's in a Pod podcast with fellow reality star Tamra Judge of The Real Housewives of Orange County and her Diamonds in the Rough podcast with her former RHOBH costar Erika Jayne.

"I don't know that I need to be on that particular show again," she explains of her Real Housewives experience. "But I would love to be on TV in some capacity."

Elsewhere during her podcast appearance, Mellencamp reveals what she is "most fearful" of in her life right now.

She seemingly refers to death as "the most obvious" thing to be afraid of, before admitting that she's "fearful of feeling alone."

That said, she quickly shoots that down by calling it an "irrational fear" because she has "so many friends and family" around her.

"Some people aren't blessed with that," she says, adding, "I need to get this out of my head."

Mellencamp's admission about her "fear of being alone" comes as she navigates dating while going through cancer and a divorce from husband Edwin Arroyave.

In a statement shared in November 2024, Mellencamp — who is the daughter of singer John Mellencamp — announced that she was filing for divorce from Arroyave after 13 years of marriage. Those proceedings were put on pause after her stage 4 cancer diagnosis in April 2025, and the two have remained on friendly terms.

In the meantime, Mellencamp started dating someone new, as she shared the news in a June episode of her Two Ts In A Pod podcast. The man was later identified as Ricci Rea.

In an episode that followed, Mellencamp opened up about finding a partner who can understand where she's at in life, saying, "If it’s enough for you, great. If it’s not enough, I won’t be upset. I mean, yes, my feelings will probably be hurting, but this is all I got to give. And if that’s enough, great."

However, she and Rea have since split, with Mellencamp explaining in early July that she had to call things off.

“Right now, it started getting to the point where it’s starting to get a little bit more serious. I was like, ‘I don’t have the capacity for this right now,’” Mellencamp said. “He’s a really nice guy, couldn’t be a nicer guy."

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The third part of Mellencamp's interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show drops Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT on YouTube.