Teddi Mellencamp is opening up about her time on The Masked Singer!

If you didn’t see the new episode, the 44-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum was unmasked as Calla Lily during the new episode of the FOX singing competition show that aired on Wednesday night (February 4).

Following her unmasking, Teddi spoke exclusively to JustJared.com where she talked about her time on the show, shared some behind-the-scenes secrets, and shared an update on her health.

Keep reading to find out more…Teddi told us that the team behind The Masked Singer keeps the show running like a “well-oiled machine.”

“I mean they have everything down to the last minute, last second,” she shared. “They know everything. How long your costume is going to take to put on, how long it’s going to take to get to the stage.”

Teddi also noted that they keep everything extremely secretive on set.

“If I was gonna leave my trailer, I had this thing that was on my head that looked like a bee’s nest and it was black,” she explained. “And then I had like a hoodie that covered that. And then I also had things to cover my neck up and my head. Like there is no, not one part of my skin showing.”

As for if she interacted with the other contestants, Teddi said, “The only things that I saw was if somebody was performing and then I would walk up like down to where it was time to perform and that person would be crossing over at the same time. But they were in costume too, so I didn’t see anybody outside of costume.”

“In my trailer, I could hear one girl singing, [but] I couldn’t tell who it was because she wasn’t talking,” Teddi added. “She was singing and she was an amazing singer. But those are the only things that I could break down. I have no idea about anything else.”

Ahead of the show’s premiere, Teddi talked about the process of picking her costume and preparing for the performances.

“You talk to like the teen and then they come up with like an idea and show you, and then you say like, yay or nay,” she said of her costume. “And they were so amazing that they made my head not so heavy. Because some people said they’re 40 pounds.”

“You go in for multiple fittings and and you also go in for voice lessons and you can do as many of those as you want,” Teddi added. “So you can work as hard at it as you want or as minimal.”

When it came to the clues she included in her package, Teddi said that a team member “comes in with a bunch of clues and reads it to you and then you say like, this sounds like me or this doesn’t, and you kind of go through it. It’s a collaborative process.”

Ahead of her unmasking, Teddi said that her dad John Mellencamp was one of only two people that knew she was going to appear on the show.

“I watched it with him last night. He came to the house, and we all watched it together,” she shared. “It was a good laugh. But he also was like, ‘You were better than I thought you were gonna be.’”

As for her kids’ reaction to her competing on the show, Teddi said they knew she was under the mask during her first performance when she sang “Fight Song.”

“They flipped out. They knew the first week that I sang,” she said with a laugh. “The second that I started singing, they knew it was me.”

They then started asking her tons of questions, like, “Why didn’t you tell us? When was this?” Teddi recalled, adding, “They’re like trying to figure out all the details in their little heads and then. Yeah, trying to, you know, decipher. And then they’re like, ‘Do you go home first?’”

Teddi, who has been battling health woes for several years now and was diagnosed with brain cancer in February 2025, said that competing on the show was a happy distraction for her.

“I really needed to do it. I’m so happy that I did because I, you know, with all of this going on, I’ve developed fear over things that I shouldn’t have fear about,” she explained. “And so, you know, my fear kept telling me, ‘Don’t do it, you can’t do it, you’re not ready.’ And I once I could prove to myself that I could do it and it was okay that my hand shook or it was okay that this happened, I felt so much better.”

“I would have been so upset at myself had I turned it down and not done it,” she continued. “And then always wondered, ‘Could I have done it?’”

As for how she’s doing health-wise now, Teddi said, “Physically, I’m doing a lot better. I would say mentally, it’s, every day is a different day, because once you get through all the physical hardships, then you start going through the mental aspects of it. And, you know, some days are really difficult because you’re just finally processing. You know, for a while, I was just so set on, ‘I need to heal, I need to get better. I need to get better.’ That. That was my entire focus. And now that I am better, now there’s things in my life that I need to figure out.”

She went on to say that being able to continue working on her podcast, Two Ts in a Pod, and compete on The Masked Singer has helped her use her brain and “sarcasm” more.

“It’s helpful because if not, you can get a little down and when, after immunotherapy and you’re feeling lethargic, you could feel even worse, because if your mental state isn’t right,” Teddi explained. “That only worsens with time if you don’t get out and do stuff. So, I make myself go on a walk every single day, even if it’s not a big one. I try to say yes to any of these fun opportunities.”

New episodes of The Masked Singer air on Fox on Wednesday nights at 8pm ET.