Teddi Mellencamp is lifting the veil on what really happens behind the scenes of The Real Housewives franchise, and it’s not all designer bags and dinner parties.
In a candid interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member shared rare, unfiltered insights about how the show works, how cast members approach their roles, and what the paycheck reality actually looks like.
“I think there’s three types of housewives,” said Mellencamp, who joined RHOBH in Season 8 and stayed on for three seasons. “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.”
Then, she explained, there are the ones who actively build the show’s momentum. “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.”
And finally, there are the behind-the-scenes strategists: “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 host Jamie Kern Lima asked if that kind of manipulation was about staying interesting enough to stay on the show, Mellencamp offered a different explanation. “No, they’re doing that because they wanna stay clean,” she said, pointing out that many cast members care most about not being the villain in the public eye. “As long as they’re not caught creating” the drama, she added, they can fly under the radar.
She didn’t hold back in calling out housewives who try to game the system too obviously. “The last couple seasons, there’s a couple housewives that you could tell, like, pandered to the public — and it never ends well,” Mellencamp said. “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 asked if the cast understands the pressure to constantly bring drama, even if it means accusations and conflict. Mellencamp acknowledged that most of them know exactly what they’re getting into, but that doesn’t make it easier. “People understand the assignment, but it still doesn’t change what your sensitivity level is,” she explained. “Something that hurts my feelings may devastate you.”
She also shed light on the financial side of the Bravo world. “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. But she pushed back against claims of massive first-season paydays.
“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.”
Now co-hosting the podcast Two T’s in a Pod with Tamra Judge, Mellencamp hasn’t ruled out returning to the Housewives world. “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.” But for the time being, she’s focused on what matters most to her. “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.”
