“I’m straightforward and I tell it like it is,” she tells PEOPLE. “And I love learning about everybody from different cultures, different lifestyles, whatever it is. How could I turn it down?”
The mother of two says she immediately clicked with Dorit Kemsley and Lisa Vanderpump. “They made it super fun and easy and comfortable for me,” says Mellencamp Arroyave. “I’m not one to force a connection. But I have a lot of fun with Kyle [Richards], too. She makes me laugh!”
On the show, viewers will learn about Mellencamp Arroyave’s back story, including a years-long battle with her weight.
“I was a weight fluctuator my whole life,” says the Bravo reality star, who says she weighed over 200 pounds when pregnant with her son Cruz, now 3. “I thought it was just going to come off, but it didn’t. I was constantly complaining to my husband and my friends. I was angry a lot of the time.”
Eventually, Teddi found balance and started LA Workout Junkie, a company in which she acts as a wellness accountability coach to motivate others to get — and stay — healthy.
Now, “I listen to how I feel, and I don’t punish myself,” she tells PEOPLE. “There are some days I’m tired and grumpy and I want a tub of ice cream, but then I just have a bite of ice cream and go on a walk.”
While there's no word on whether her famous father, rocker John Mellencamp, will make any appearances on RHOBH, Teddi gushes about her dad’s relationship with her two kids: Cruz, 3, and
Slate, 5.
“They call him Peepaw,” she reveals. “He’s so much fun with them. We’re excited for the holidays. He told my daughter she can watch a movie and stay up late!”
Photo Credit: Bravo
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