RECAP: ‘Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown DRAGS Kody Brown For Abandoning His Day-One Wives After Meeting Robyn: “We Starved For You!”
RECAP: ‘Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown DRAGS Kody Brown For Abandoning His Day-One Wives After Meeting Robyn: “We Starved For You!”
Janelle Brown isn’t holding back when it comes to revisiting the hardships she and her fellow Sister Wives faced long before Robyn Brown entered their lives.
During the Sunday, April 27 episode of Sister Wives, Janelle Brown, 55, opened up about the challenges she, Meri Brown, and Christine Brown endured in the early years of their plural marriage with Kody Brown. Reflecting on the shift that occurred when Robyn Brown, 46, joined the family in 2010, Janelle shared her perspective on how different things became once Kody, 56, met what he called “the love of his life.”
“Kody has said, ‘Well, all of a sudden, I met Robyn and she’s this Diesel jeans model and she’s everything I want,’” Janelle recalled. “And I’m thinking, ‘That’s rich, dude.’”
We Were Broke
Looking back, Janelle painted a vivid picture of the financial and emotional struggles the original family faced.
“We went through all the starving years when I was holding my bra together with diaper pins,” she said, describing the intense hardships. “We were broke as broke, and we went through all your crazy, ‘Let’s move here, let’s move there.’”
She added, “We’ve been through all of this with you, and she’s not been through that with you. So that’s great. You just take your little Diesel jeans model and just go live happily ever after.”
Kody’s plural family officially began in 1990 when he married Meri, 54. Janelle and Kody entered into a spiritual marriage in 1993, followed by Christine, 53, in 1994. It wasn’t until nearly two decades later that Robyn became part of the family — a change that stirred significant tension within the once tightly knit group.
Divorce, Separation, and Shifting Dynamics
In 2014, Kody made the decision to legally divorce Meri so he could legally wed Robyn, allowing him to adopt her three children from a previous relationship. Though Kody and Meri remained spiritually connected for several more years, the shift created fractures that ultimately proved irreparable.
Christine announced her split from Kody in November 2021, followed by Janelle’s announcement in December 2022. Just a month later, in January 2023, Kody and Meri issued a joint statement confirming the end of their spiritual marriage as well.
In the aftermath of the separations, Kody began making claims that he never truly loved his former wives — comments that didn’t sit well with Janelle and Meri.
“We were team players,” Meri reminded Janelle during a heartfelt conversation on Sunday’s episode as they reflected on their early days of pooling resources and managing household responsibilities.
Janelle echoed that sentiment, saying, “We set it up in the very beginning. From the very first day, it felt like we just were putting our money in and we were all contributing.”
Meri pointed out that there was always a sense of loyalty among the original wives: “We always knew that we had each other’s backs too.” However, she admitted that Kody’s more recent statements about feeling “forced” to marry them made her reevaluate their years of commitment.
“I don’t believe it. But he’s always been so wishy-washy back and forth,” Meri said. Janelle agreed, adding, “I think it’s just like his ego can’t handle the fact that he’s failed miserably at this, or he’s found the love of his life.”
Kody Brown Admits He Lied About His Feelings
Toward the end of the episode, viewers saw Kody take some responsibility for the hurtful narratives he had spun about his previous marriages.
“All that I said about not loving my wives and stuff, my exes, it was just like me trying to dial in how I felt about it. I was bullying myself,” Kody confessed. “I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m not affected by this. Those mean women, they’re gone. I never loved them anyway.’ This is really the crap I was spewing because that was the only defense I had.”
He continued to explain how much the support from his family had meant to him: “I got my identity from them saying I was ‘awesome’ and telling my kids I was awesome and having my kids tell me I was awesome. And now they’re gone and they’re saying that I’m a piece of trash.”
Despite his earlier bitterness, Kody acknowledged that the pain was mutual. “I don’t blame them,” he admitted, noting that he had lashed out in anger and grief.
“It didn’t work for a reason, and I tried to convince myself that I did this on purpose because I didn’t love them,” Kody said. “As much as I said I hated them or that I didn’t love them — I love them. This situation, what we experienced is over. If it could be friendly, I would be very happy.”
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
Stay Connected With All About The Tea: Twitter Ι Instagram Ι YouTube Ι Facebook Ι Send Us Tips
Nancy Zhāng is an Entertainment Blogger for All About The Tea. Nancy covers hot topics, recaps and celeb news. She loves to multi-task as a writer and a private chef. She received a B.S. in Mass Communications from LSU. Nancy’s married and the proud mom of 2 German Shepherds.