Christine Brown got real with Janelle Brown about her future with Kody Brown — and the family as a whole — in the latest episode of Sister Wives.
Christine, 51, sat down with Janelle, 54, during the Sunday, October 22, episode to reflect on their respective highs and lows with Kody, 54, as the polygamist family’s dynamic continues to fracture. When Christine asked whether Kody knew where Janelle was “at mentally” in regards to their relationship, Janelle didn’t hold back.
“I tell him and I talk to him, but I don’t think he’s tracking,” she said, to which Christine replied, “I think he’s just a monogamist now.”
Janelle agreed — much to Christine’s surprise. “This is the first time Janelle’s agreed with me that Kody lives monogamy,” she said in a confessional.
Janelle, meanwhile, told the cameras that Kody “slipped into” the single-partner lifestyle with fourth wife Robyn Brown. “I think maybe he did it a while ago and was just trying to maintain his responsibilities with his plural family,” she continued. “If I cared, it would bother me. But I don’t care. I really don’t.”
Referring to Kody and Robyn, 45, Janelle quipped: “They can have each other.”
When Sister Wives premiered in 2010, Robyn had just joined the family. Kody was legally married to Meri Brown at the time and had spiritual unions with Christine and Janelle. Four years later, however, he shook up his relationships by divorcing Meri, 52, in order to lawfully wed Robyn and adopt her children from a previous marriage. (He and Meri remained together spiritually until their split earlier this year.)
Christine was the first sister wife to leave the family, announcing her breakup in November 2021. She has since moved on with husband David Woolley, whom she wed in Utah earlier this month.
Throughout season 18 of Sister Wives, Janelle and Kody’s strained relationship has been front and center. The twosome had a blowout fight during a September episode, which Janelle confessed on Sunday “effectively” ended their marriage. (She officially confirmed their breakup in December 2022.)
“Everything was great until the last year or so,” she told Christine. “Then I began to realize I started changing. I realized I need something different … I keep thinking that there should be more drama, but I’m just like, ‘I’m ready to do something different.’”
Janelle described her separation from Kody as “very amiable,” but Christine wasn’t so sure. “I saw the fight,” she teased in a confessional.
Since their tension reached an all-time high, Janelle realized she felt “more at peace” without Kody around. Kody, for his part, appeared to be warming to the idea of only having one spouse.
“My whole life seems to center around mine and Robyn’s household,” he said on Sunday’s episode, noting that Robyn was encouraging him to “fix” his relationships with Meri and Janelle. “I’m like, ‘Listen, when I’m around them, there’s no flicker. There’s no flame.’”
Kody reflected on the “weird” state of his family, adding, “I’m married to the love of my life. I’ve got these other situations at different levels of discord. And it’s hard to reconcile.”
Speaking exclusively in Us Weekly‘s first-ever Reality Stars of the Year issue, Kody gave an update on his status with Janelle. “I mean, time changes things, and if you move forward with grace and forgiveness, maybe you’ll find love in the end … even if not staying in the marriage,” he told Us.
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
