Kody Brown once tried to convince us that “love should be multiplied, not divided.” He wanted us to think that living with four wives and 18 children just meant more people to love. But those days are over. Like a lot of other things that fell apart during Covid, the Brown family crumbled like a house of sand.
The Sister Wives star married his first wife Meri Brown in 1990. Meri was the one who wanted to live a polygamous lifestyle (which she would later come to regret). She convinced Kody to “spiritually” marry Janelle Brown (1993), Christine Brown (1994) and Robyn Brown (2010).
In 2014, Meri agreed to divorce Kody, allowing him to legally marry Robyn and adopt her three children from her previous marriage. That was the beginning of the end for the Sister Wives family. People has all the tea.
Monogamous again after 30 years
Kody’s extreme reaction to the Covid pandemic separated him from the rest of his family. His other wives quickly tired of Kody ignoring them for months on end, especially when he also disregarded their shared children.
When Kody seemed to prefer spending time with Robyn and her three children, it didn’t sit well with the rest of his family. All three of his other wives bailed out over the span of 14 months. Several of his grown children have also cut ties with him.
Finding himself in a monogamous relationship for the first time in 30 years, Kody sees the future differently than he did before. “The idea of ever marrying again,” the firearms salesman says, “after the experience I’ve had, there’s no reason for me to do that. I feel like I’ve hit the bottom of a deep swimming pool, but I’ve pushed off and am headed to the surface.” So change of direction then.
Polygamy is no bed of roses (especially for the women)
Entering plural marriage, Kody imagined a big happy family. More wives and more children meant more love, right? The reality was much harder, as the family dealt with jealousy among the wives, children feeling ignored and all the legal repercussions that polyamorous marriages face.
“I went in with these ideas about how idyllic plural marriage was going to be,” Janelle admits, “but it was really hard. Meri and I clashed on everything. Kody and I were amazing when it was just us, but the family dynamic was really tough.”
Moving forward, Kody’s three exes are all staying positive. Meri says her future is about “keeping the doors open and saying yes.” Janelle doesn’t “have any regrets,” noting that the “experience is what gave us the life that we have now … I would do it all again.”
Christine has already found the “love of her life” and is engaged to marry (legally this time) new fiancé David Wooley. “Just because I left, it doesn’t mean we failed,” she says now. “It [only] means there’s change.”
Season 18 of Sister Wives premieres August 20 at 10/9c on TLC.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ROBYN WILL LIKE HAVING KODY ALL TO HERSELF? DO YOU THINK HE’LL EVENTUALLY TAKE ANOTHER WIFE?
