Teddi Mellencamp Says ‘Unbelievable’ Dad John Mellencamp ‘Saved’ Her Amid Stage 4 Cancer Journey

Teddi Mellencamp is singing the praises of her father, John Mellencamp, explaining he got her through an incredibly difficult time in her life.

On Thursday, March 26, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 44 — who’s been battling melanoma since 2022 — presented the singer-songwriter, 74, with the Icon Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards and spoke to Page Six that evening about how her dad helped.

“My dad, throughout my past journey, has been unbelievable,” Teddi told the outlet, noting he “pretty much saved my life.”

While the former reality TV personality resides in California and the “Hurts So Good” singer lives in Indiana, she told the publication, he “swooped in” to help amid her health crisis.

“He was out here for months with me in the hospital, taking care of me at my bedside,” the Two Ts in a Pod host recalled.

“He doesn’t do anything halfway,” she added. “And I think that’s why there’s no better person to get the Icon Award than my dad.”

Onstage while presenting the award, Teddi again discussed how her dad has been a light for her through this process and explained why his 2008 track “Longest Days” is “the song that means the most” to her.

“In it he sings, ‘But nothing lasts forever / Your best efforts don’t always pay / Sometimes when you get sick and you don’t get better / That’s when life is short, even in its longest days,'” she told the audience.

“It was a little over a year ago when I got sick. My life felt short even when the days in the hospital seemed to go on forever, sometimes you get sick and you don’t get better,” Teddi admitted. “He wasn’t going to let that lyric define my life. He stepped up, took control, fought for me, and pretty much changed my life. Saved my life.”

Teddi has chronicled her cancer journey online since sharing her diagnosis in 2022. In 2025, she revealed that doctors had found multiple tumors on her brain and the cancer had also spread to her lungs. After undergoing multiple surgeries, she took to her podcast in October and shared that there was “no detectable cancer,” but that she wasn’t in “remission” yet.