Yup, just a casual childhood memory.

Teddi Mellencamp recalls the time she got grounded by famous dad in front of Sean Penn and Madonna: ‘Oh no, I’m in trouble’

Yup, just a casual childhood memory.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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February 5, 2026 3:45 p.m. ET

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Teddi Mellencamp with her father, John Mellencamp, in 2018. Credit:

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Getting grounded is a fairly typical rite of passage in American childhood — getting grounded in front of Sean Penn and Madonna, though, is on a whole other level.

For Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, this was just an average childhood memory.

The recollection was part of a typically obscure clue package for the reality TV star, who competed in the ongoing 14th season of *The Masked Singer* as the Calla Lily. As part of her exit interview for the disguised celebrity guessing game, ** wanted to get her side of the story.

"Yes," she tells EW with a laugh, when asked if the grounding was in fact real.

She explains, "So my dad had Sean Penn and Madonna staying at our house, and I rode my bike to go ride horses and he said, 'Okay, you'll be back in three hours.' And I said, 'Yep, I'll be back in three hours.' And somehow six hours had passed and then I saw his car peeling into the stables and I'm like, *oh no, I'm in trouble*."

Madonna and Sean Penn leave rehearsals for their play 'Goose and Tom Tom' in August 1986 in New York City.

Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

She continues, "He got me in the car and didn't say a word to me, and all I could think about was my bike is still at the barn. I wasn't thinking about the fact that once we were at dinner with Sean Penn and Madonna that he was going to take my birthday away."

The 44-year-old *Real Housewives of Beverly Hills* alum didn't specify exactly when in her childhood this occurred, but the Oscar-winning actor and the Queen of Pop were married from 1985-89.

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Elsewhere in her exit interview, Teddi reveals whether she was more or less nervous to sing one of her dad's classic hits, "Jack & Diane," on *The Masked Singer*. "I mean, I would say the problem was I knew the words better to [my first song], 'Fight Song,'" she jokes, adding, "I mean, there was a part of me that was like, *oh no, now what you're going to do is you're going to sing this song, and probably you're going to get booted on the time that you sang your dad's song, and now he's never going to let you hear the end of it.*"

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This is, of course, exactly what happened on Wednesday night's episode. But she is taking it all in stride.

"Doing this definitely made me *not* want to join the family business, but it was so much fun," she admits. "It was really fun. And I think that's the thing, and that's something my dad said, is 'Just go have fun. Clearly you're not a singer. There's going to be some singers in the group probably, so just go on and have some fun.'"**

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