Life After Kody: What Christine Brown And The Other Sister Wives Have Been Up To Since Leaving Kody
For over a decade, viewers of the reality TV show Sister Wives have watched the lives of Kody Brown and his four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn. The show chronicles the family's journey as they navigate the challenges and rewards of practicing polygamy and raising a large family together.
However, recently, Christine and a few of her fellow sister wives have struck out on their own.
An interesting relationship from the start.
Christine and Kody first met in 1990 when they were both members of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group that practices polygamy.
Kody was already married to Meri Brown at the time, and he eventually would add two more wives, Janelle and Robyn, to his family.
The two married in 1994.
Christine grew up in a polygamist household, so she was familiar with how it worked, and she decided to marry Kody and became his wife in 1994.
Over the years, Christine and Kody had six children together, bringing the total number of children in the Brown family to 18. Christine had described her relationship with Kody as having "ups and downs."
But it wasn't happily ever after.
Fans of Sister Wives have seen Christine struggle with jealousy and insecurity over Kody's relationships with his other wives.
Christine hasn't been shy about how she's felt and has often expressed her frustration over feeling like she was always second or third in Kody's affection behind his other wives and families.
"It feels lonely," Christine has said.
Christine explained that she felt "on the outside looking in all the time," when it came to Kody's other marriages.
"I'm really sorry — I still get jealous," Christine said to her sister wives in one episode. "I still get super, super, super jealous and I'm really, really, really sorry."
The couple also disagreed on with where to live.
Christine didn't want to live on the same property as Kody's other wives.
"Why would I want to live on the same property with a dysfunctional marriage where right over there, he's got a full-functioning marriage," she said on the show.
"Who would ever want to live like that?"
Christine also wanted to return to her native Utah after polygamy was decriminalized in 2020, but Kody opted to stay and keep the family in Arizona .
In 2021, Christine had hit her limit, saying, "I can't do marriage with Kody anymore."
In November of 2021, the couple announced their split.
"After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart, and I have made the difficult decision to leave," Christine announced in a statement on her Instagram.
"We will continue to be a strong presence in each other's lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family."
"At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness..."
"Christine's decision to leave comes with a great deal of sadness," Kody said in his own statement on the split. The two were not legally married and did not have to file for divorce.
"We enjoyed many years together, and I have a large amount of respect and admiration for her."
A New Man.
"He's wonderful and romantic and so kind, and everything I've been looking for," Christine said about her new boyfriend.
"He's absolutely a dream come true," she added. "And I'm so excited to show you guys pictures and everything in a little bit."
"I finally found the love of my life, David."
"The first time he held me close, it felt like my soul took its first breath. He's wonderful and kind, incredible with my children, and an adorable grandpa," she shared.
"I never dreamed I could find a love like this."
She got more effusive in the hashtags.
While tagging the post, Christine wrote that she was feeling good, blessed, and that she had found her soulmate.
Christine wasn't the only sister wife to hit a breaking point. Next up? Janelle.
Janelle and Kody had been experiencing tension.
"I never thought that I would ever be in a place where I would be questioning my relationship, but the last few years, I began to wonder if we're compatible anymore," Janelle had said on the show about her relationship with Kody.
Janelle wasn't shy about expressing her doubts about her marriage.
"Maybe this doesn't work anymore for me. I don't know."
After the bombshell that was Christine deciding to leave the marriage, it didn't come to many fans as a surprise that Janelle might be the next to jump ship.
As it turns out, they didn't have to wait long because the couple confirmed they had separated at the end of 2022.
"Kody and I have separated, and I'm happy, really happy."
"I don't know, things just really became sort of indifferent, like I just didn't care anymore," Janelle said of their marriage breakdown.
"I've kind of mourned that that part of our life is gone," she continued. "I wasn't heartbroken. It wasn't heartbreaking for me the way it was for Christine."
"It was just kind of like, I just mourned that that life was gone."
"We had this great run." Janelle admitted that "it could be there" to get back together with Kody eventually but that it "would require so much change on both of our parts that I don't know."
Janelle also mentioned that her religion "requires that you continue to make marriage work."
"I know I'm happy, I don't want him to come back."
"But my faith requires that we are married eternally." So is there a chance?
Janelle said that a "door" in her heart is not completely closed to the idea of a reunion because of what her religion requires from her, but that "I'm not interested in having anyone walk through that door."
For his part, Kody has accepted the split.
"Janelle has made it pretty clear to me that she's enjoying her life without me," Kody explained. "She's like, 'Haven't missed you much.'" Tell us how you really feel, Janelle!
Kody said that he "absolutely" wants to work on their relationship but that that would be "a whole new negotiation."
Kody's first wife, Meri, has also revealed their split.
Meri and Kody had been married since 1990, but the two were legally divorced in 2014, so Kody could marry his fourth wife, Robyn.
However, in a December 2022 episode of the show, Meri revealed that Kody had "already made the decision" that the two were separated. "He's like, 'We're not married. We're not acting as married," she said.
Meri shared some quotes to her Instagram page.
"All that I am becoming is in front of me. The future is bright and holds the promise of hope, the fulfillment of dreams, the excitement of creation!" she shared.
"I am at peace with me, with my past, with the experiences that have shaped who I am. I am in love with me, with the adventures I have and the people I surround myself with, with all things that are currently present in my life."
Meri's Instagram activity continued.
While rumors swirled that Meri and Kody may have separated officially, Meri took the time to share quotes about following your passions.
"It's so important to take time to tune out the noise and distractions so you can figure out what is most important to YOU. Find your passion, follow your dreams, take a step daily, even if small, toward a goal or a dream, and make that thing a reality."
The odds of their relationship returning to what it was.
While Meri said that she "would think" about getting back together with him in an official capacity, she stressed that she didn't believe Kody had the same opinion.
"I don't think that he’s interested," she said simply. In January of 2023, the two made their separation official through an Instagram post.
"...we feel compelled to share our own truth."
"After more than a decade of working on our relationship in our own unique ways, we have made the decision to permanently terminate our marriage relationship," Meri and Kody said in the post that was signed with both of their names.
"During this process, we are committed to kindness and respect towards each other."
Their statement went on.
"We are also committed to the continued healing of any and all relationships within the family so that we can move forward with forgiveness, grace, and love. In kindness, Meri and Kody."
But the post shared to Kody's Instagram page, wasn't the last that Meri spoke about the impending split.
Meri shared her own statement in her Instagram captions.
"Kody and I have had many open and honest discussions that have led to our announcement today," she wrote. "There is so much more to be told about this story, and I assure you, my truth will be told."
"But for now, know that there is peace in my heart, and I hold no animosity toward Kody."
Meri asked her fans to not speak ill of Kody.
"I am not, and pray that I never will be, in a place where I will enjoy making, or seeing you make, rude and demeaning comments about him," she wrote on Instagram and added one request.
"Please try to refrain from congratulating me at the break up of my marriage."
Meri ended her statement with a message of hope to the future.
"I value the relationship I had and look forward to stepping into 2023 and my future with grace, kindness, and power."
Not every fan of the show listened to her wishes, as quite a few left messages of congratulations. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to congratulate you on that breakup. As a psychologist, I can only say that he is a narcissistic, selfish man and incapable of seeing how wonderful you, Christine, and Janelle were," one fan wrote.
The next month, Meri again made a reference to being single.
"Relationship Status: committed to inner peace, growth, self-love, and gratitude," read a quote uploaded to Meri's Instagram Story in February 2023.
So where does that leave Kody Brown and his remaining wife, Robyn Brown, after all of this has gone down? Are they looking to add more wives to their family?
Robyn has spoken about whether there'll be more sister wives.
According to Robyn, that is something that Kody is just not interested in.
"He's basically said no" to bringing in more wives, Robyn revealed. She stated that she would be willing to "try this again," but she added that she's "scared of it because of how badly this has gone."
Robyn expanded on her fear.
"I really struggle with it because it feels like, 'Oh, well. Those didn't work. So, on to [someone] new,'" she said of the idea of getting new sister wives.
"That's hard for me. That's really, really hard for me. It feels disrespectful."
"I don't know what to do with it. It's messing with my identity."
"It's not the future I wanted. I want that house with us on the porch in the rocking chairs with our grandkids and our kids around us. You know, the grandparent ranch. That's what I want," Robyn said.
As for Kody, he said that he's "right on the verge of not even being a polygamist" anymore. The future of Sister Wives seems to be up in the air for all of those involved!