Officially done with former husband Kody Brown (and his nice pecs and six-pack abs), Janelle Brown revealed in *Sister Wives* season 20 opener that she’s borrowing a page from Meri Brown’s playbook. Never legally entwined to Kody during their 29-year marriage, Janelle shared on the September 28 premiere:
“I had sort of thought about a spiritual divorce a long time ago and didn’t even realize it was an option. And so when Meri got one, I’m like, ‘Oh, hey, Meri, who do I call?’”
Meri, who was granted a spiritual release from their former church on grounds of abandonment, was more than happy to help. “She has been kind of helping me get in touch with everybody,” Janelle added.
—
### Madison Brush Still Struggling with Estrangement from Kody
Madison Brush, the second oldest of Kody and Janelle’s six children, admitted on the September 28 episode that she’s still grappling with the separation from her father.
“You want your dad to show up,” the mother of four confided alongside husband Caleb Brush. “You want reconciliation. I know I played a part and I’m angry because I’m still trying to learn to not be disappointed.”
It’s a tough lesson she continues to work on. “I’m still learning how to just see him for who he is,” she explained. “I’m trying to understand that maybe he didn’t know how to show up. He might be hurting.”
—
### Kody’s Desire for Healing Faces Challenges
Kody expressed his wish to have healing with Meri, Janelle, third wife Christine Brown, and their children, stating, “I think we’re in an impasse here because this healing can only happen on their terms only.”
—
### Robyn Brown’s Perspective: Family Over the Man
Kody’s fourth and sole remaining wife, Robyn Brown, reflected on her journey to the family. On the September 28 episode, she revealed:
“I had marriage proposals — not necessarily on one knee — just different men at different times said, you know, ‘I’d marry you in a heartbeat.’”
Her response remained consistent: “I was just like, ‘Well, I plan to live a plural marriage.’”
Had Kody been single when he pursued her, rather than a devoted family man with three wives, “I would have said the same thing to you,” she noted.
However, now as unintentional monogamists, Kody declared, “It’s you and me, baby,” although he admitted one concern regarding their sex life.
“A polygamist is getting more than he wants and a monogamist isn’t getting enough,” Kody explained in a confessional.
—
### Meri’s Dating Adventures and Criteria
Throwing herself into the dating scene, Meri knows exactly what she’s looking for in a man. On the October 5 episode, she shared:
“In addition to a tall guy, super important for me is to find somebody who wants to travel with me. And also must not have cats. Must love dogs.”
However, she’s had her share of hurtful experiences. She recounted one troubling encounter:
“There was a guy that I was talking to. Once he discovered I was a polygamist, he was like, ‘I can’t continue talking to you. This is not something that I’m even interested in or open to.’”
“It was very hurtful to me because I was a polygamist, and he was not interested in pursuing a relationship with me.”
This experience brought home a reality for Meri: “That’s going to inhibit some people from even wanting to start talking to me.”
—
### Janelle’s Take on the Coyote Pass Dream
Janelle believes she was the only family member who truly wanted to live on Coyote Pass. Discussing the family’s standoff over the 14-acre property purchased ahead of their 2018 move to Flagstaff, Arizona, Janelle admitted on the October 3 episode:
“I’m not actually sure I ever had the dream of us all being out on Coyote Pass.”
While she could imagine settling there (“It’s a beautiful piece of property, why not?”), she alleged that it was more of a passing phase for Kody and his other wives.
“Nobody really wanted to live out there,” she said, adding that Christine definitely didn’t and Meri would have obliged “if everybody else had done it.”
As for Kody and Robyn, they “had a house that was pretty much there without being there on the property,” Janelle surmised of their two-acre, five-bedroom spread, which has since sold for $1.7 million.
She concluded, “I just could see very soon after we moved to Flagstaff that that was not going to be a thing.”
—
### Kody’s Strained Relationships with His Adult Children
Kody opened up on the October 5 episode about his struggles with his relationships with most of his adult children (with exceptions being Robyn’s eldest Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna):
“I think most of the relationships between me and my adult children are strained. It’s an issue of trash talk and innuendo, and it has challenged loyalties and trust on all sides.”
Currently, not many of his grown kids are on Team Kody.
—
### Mykelti Padron’s Thoughts on Healing
Mykelti Padron, one of Kody’s six children with Christine, had been more supportive of her father, but months after moving to North Carolina, she shared her take during an October 2024 fan Q&A on Instagram account @withoutacrystalball:
“I think that if he took more accountability in any of his actions, his kids—maybe not all of them, but at least some—would reach out.”
“Instead of blaming the children, or blaming how they feel about his relationship with his other wife or blaming the parents or blaming gossip or whatever, if he just said, ‘Look, I understand I did [blank] wrong. I’m sorry. Can we talk about it?’ I feel like that would go such a long way.”
—
### The Sale of Coyote Pass: A Parting Gift
With the April 2025 sale of Coyote Pass, Janelle and Meri walked away from their marriages to Kody with a nice parting gift. (Christine had already signed over her portion of the land in exchange for keeping the proceeds from the sale of her Arizona home.)
Janelle joked to Meri on the October 5 episode:
“It was a nice way to just be like, ‘See you later. Hope I never see you again. Goodbye.’”
Still, she wouldn’t have minded an even nicer present. Had she been “legally married to Kody,” she noted, she absolutely would have taken half of his assets “because it would have been half mine.”
—
### Kody and Robyn’s New $2.1 Million Home
Before closing the door on their Coyote Pass dreams, Kody and Robyn had to finalize their new $2.1 million home. After months of deliberation with his exes about selling the sprawling property, Kody explained on the October 12 episode:
“Selling Coyote Pass became a reality for us only when we discovered we really wanted this other house.”
The dad of 18 is eager to leave behind painful memories, adding, “We’ve experienced a lot of heartache here. And we want a new beginning, something different, something new.”
—
### Kody Admits Devotion Issues
Though Kody felt his love should be multiplied by committing to four wives, his attention wasn’t equally divided. On the October 19 episode, he reflected:
“I felt like I was devoted to our family and to plural marriage, but then I struggled to be devoted specifically to every single wife and vice versa.”
He acknowledged that his wives were not devoted “to me or to each other as a whole.”
Among his mistakes, Kody mentioned setting Robyn up in a $1.65 million, five-bedroom Flagstaff home while other spouses made do with less.
“I don’t know what went wrong,” he said about the dissolution of his unions with Meri, Janelle, and Christine, “but I know that I stirred up a jealousy putting her in this house. My wives, in whatever way, couldn’t handle that I was willing to fight so much to make sure that Robyn was safely kept.”
—
### Christine on the Challenges of Being Married to Kody
Christine described her marriage to Kody as challenging. On the October 26 episode, she said:
“We were married to a guy that was a lot of work. He had a lot of things that he liked and a lot of specifics, like certain dietary restrictions, his grooming, and things like that.”
Bottom line? “It was a lot.”
—
### Janelle’s Resistance to Dating Again
Janelle isn’t exactly eager to multiply her love after their split. Speaking to Christine and her husband David Woolley, she said:
“I think maybe Kody was a lot of work. So I think that a relationship must be really hard.”
That’s why she resists David’s persistence for her to sign up on FarmersOnly, telling cameras:
“David just can’t handle that I’m just not going to go date because I’m like, dude, I, no, no, no.”
—
### Kody’s Name Slip-Ups and Wife Rivalries
Kody was careful not to mix up his wives’ names. Christine insisted on the November 2 episode:
“Kody would rarely slip up and call us the wrong name. There’s certain moments you don’t want to hear another woman’s name. You know those moments I’m talking about. Never happened.”
Though Kody admitted, “I would catch myself a lot. And I’ve certainly done it. I had a way of starting it sometimes and then pivoting.”
—
### Christine Feels Betrayed by Robyn
Christine confessed to feeling stabbed in the back by Robyn on the November 2 episode:
“I feel betrayed by Robyn. I felt like I could never really trust her, ever.”
Christine explained she used to confide in Robyn, only to find out later that Kody got mad because Robyn would share confidence. “I can’t trust her. So I stopped confiding in her.”
Robyn defended herself, saying:
“Christine would say to me, ‘I wish Kody would know this. I wish Kody would understand this. I’m struggling with this.’ Me being kind of a naive fool, I thought I could help, but I should have just stayed out of it completely.”
—
### Meri Draws Hard Boundaries with Kody
Once charmed by her status as Kody’s favorite ex-wife, Meri refused to indulge Kody’s attempts at small talk when he scheduled a video chat about selling their Arizona property.
Kody mused on the November 2 episode:
“I don’t know what happened with Meri because I remember helping her move to her place in Parowan, Utah, and it was all fun and games and cordial. And since then to now, it’s got weird.”
Meri explained her stance:
“I just had to draw some really hard boundaries. And when we get on this video call and he’s being all friendly and trying to act like things are normal after some of the things that he has said to and about me and my friends, that’s not going to fly.”
—
### Janelle Won’t Pursue Money Back from Kody
Excited about recouping her share of Coyote Pass, Janelle isn’t upset about losing money she had given Robyn and Kody for their five-bedroom Arizona home.
While her kids feel she should pursue the money, Janelle admitted on the November 2 episode:
“It’s going to be a fight.”
If she tries to get the money back, she noted, “There’s always a billion reasons why he doesn’t owe it.”
Kody insisted:
“Janelle helped Robyn and me buy our house and I settled that debt with Janelle back in January. And she just stated to me after that was done in January or February, she said, ‘Our debt is settled, you’re good with me. It was more than fair.’”
—
### Kody Still Received Offers for Plural Marriage
If Kody is interested in having his love multiplied again, he has options. On the November 2 episode, he told Robyn:
“I got another one of those emails from some woman talking about plural marriage.”
The unnamed woman chastised him for quitting plural marriage and offered to get to know them for the purpose of joining their family.
Robyn admitted in a confessional:
“For a split second, I think, ‘Oh, wouldn’t this be great? This is what I’ve always wanted for my life.’ And, ‘Hmm, would they fit?’”
Ultimately, she said no:
“I find it very inappropriate that they would send it to Kody. It’s not usually proper to go hitting on a guy. You have to go through the sister wives.”
https://www.eonline.com/news/1424680/kody-brown-says-he-didnt-know-s-t-about-being-a-dad-husband?cmpid=rss-syndicate-genericrss-us-top_stories
