Teddi Mellencamp Announces Divorce from Edwin Arroyave: 'My Priority Is My Children'

“Making a public statement is not something I wanted to do,” the former ‘Real Housewives’ star said in a Nov. 2 Instagram post

is divorcing Edwin Arroyave after 13 years of marriage.

In a message posted to on Saturday, Nov. 2, the alum shared that her children are her top priority during this transitional time.

“After a great deal of care and consideration, I have made the difficult decision to file for divorce,” the reality star, 43, wrote in her statement. “My priority is my children and ensuring that every care is taken with their privacy and wellbeing throughout this new chapter.”

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“Making a public statement is not something I wanted to do,” she continued, “but in an effort to protect my family from undue speculation and rumors, I have felt being open, honest, and vulnerable is the best path forward.

Less than 24 hours prior to her announcement, Mellencamp appeared at a live taping of her podcast with co-host in Burbank, California. In the video, she can be seen interacting with fans before and after the taping, and did not talk about her personal life at all. Tamra’s husband Eddie Judge was in attendance, but Arroyave, 47, did not appear to be.

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Mellencamp — who is the daughter of singer — previously shared that Arroyave didn’t believe in marriage when they first met.

“He came home and he had tears in his eyes, and I had never really seen him cry before,” Mellencamp said in a 2019 interview with .

“And he just put a blank check down on the bedside table, and he was like, ‘Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I went to go buy the ring today. I’m sorry. I just don’t believe in marriage and I don’t want you to break up with me.’ “

“I felt like the life had just been sucked out of me,” she recalled.

Arroyave, who is the founder and CEO of , ended up changing his mind, ultimately asking her to marry him the following day on Christmas Eve.

“Your mind plays tricks on you, and at the end of the day, I knew that this was the girl that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” Arroyave said in the same Yahoo interview.

Mellencamp and Arroyave married in 2011 and share daughters . She is also stepmom to Arroyave’s daughter Isabella, 15.

Arroyave has yet to comment publicly about the split.