Sister Wives star Janelle Brown is opening up about her feelings regarding her separation from her husband, Kody Brown, and her stance on dating in the future. The revelation comes amidst a tumultuous period for the Brown family.
In ET’s sneak peek at Sunday’s episode, Janelle is grappling with the complexities of her relationship status. “I’m in this really weird place right now because I don’t want Kody back at my house, and there’s no real legal mechanism that shows we’re legally divorced, but I’m not at all interested in any other kind of relationship,” she candidly states. “I’m not interested in dating, I mean unless God somehow throws this guy right in my path and points with big arrows, ‘This is it, this is it, this is it.’ I’m just not interested.”
Kody is only legally married to Robyn Brown, who is the only spouse who is still with him. In addition to Janelle, Christine and Meri Brown have also left him.
This sentiment of independence and self-discovery appears to be a common theme among the Brown wives. During a lunch Christine, Janelle reiterates her desire to keep Kody out of her home while also expressing her hesitation about entering the dating scene.
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“It’s a new chapter for me,” Janelle shares, prompting Christine to inquire about her feelings. Janelle replies, “I still don’t know, but I feel optimistic, and it feels like there are lots of options. This summer is looking a lot more exciting than last summer.”
Christine reflects on the challenges they’ve faced as sister wives, especially regarding Christine’s decision to leave Kody and the family last summer. She mentions that Janelle cried when she announced her departure.
Janelle admits, “I did cry. That was rare for me.”
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The two women share a moment of laughter, highlighting the unique bond they’ve developed over the years. Christine reminisces about their enduring friendship, saying, “You cried then, but not with you and Kody, but we’ll always raise the kids together. We’re always going to be sister wives.”
In a separate confessional, Christine reaffirms the unbreakable bond between herself and Janelle, stating, “Janelle and I have this bond; it’s cemented together, and nothing is going to come between Janelle and me.”
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Janelle and Kody tied the knot in January 1993, marking Kody’s second marriage. Janelle had previously been married to Adam Barber — Meri’s brother — from 1988 to 1990. She and Kody share six kids together.
In the One-on-One special in January 2023, Janelle and Kody both confirmed that they are officially separated after nearly 30 years of marriage. The strain on their relationship was documented in season 17 of Sister Wives as Janelle lent her support to Christine amid her split from Kody and struggled with being put in the middle of Kody’s fractured relationship with their older children, particularly their sons Gabriel and Garrison.
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“It basically feels like I’m being forced to choose between my children and this group. I don’t feel like my children are welcome,” Janelle explained in the season 17 finale of the TLC reality series.
In the One-on-One special, Kody shared, “Janelle has made it pretty clear to me that she’s enjoying her life without me.”
Janelle admitted to being torn between her faith and doing what she wants when it comes to her marriage.
“I’m not waiting for him,” she said of her estranged husband. “I think it could be there, but it would require so much change on both our parts so I don’t know. Part of me thinks, ‘OK, my religion requires that you continue to make a marriage work.’ And I deeply believe in my faith. I have been so much at peace that I don’t know how to reconcile that. So that’s where my debate with myself is all the time because I know I’m happy. I don’t want him to come back, but my faith requires that we are married eternally.”
One-on-One host Sukanya Krishnan asked Janelle of her marriage, “So the door’s still open?”
She replied, “It has to be, but I’m not interested in having anyone walk through that door.”
As for Kody, he said in the special that he still “loves” Janelle and “absolutely” wants to make things work with her.
“I want to fix it, yes, but that’s a whole new negotiation,” he said. “We’re in a new place. Christine’s left. Janelle likes her. That’s like, why couldn’t you have been good sister wives when you were sister wives? That’s such a mess.”
But in this season of Sister Wives, Janelle seems past a mere separation and ready for an all-out divorce from her estranged husband. In one clip, she tells a shocked Christine, “I’m growing and I need something different. I don’t want to be married anymore.”
She and Kody also get into an expletive-laced shouting match that ends with Kody storming out of Janelle’s home at Christmastime and her asking him if they’re “done.”
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
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