TLC's Sister Wives follows the Brown family, made up of Kody Brown and his four wives — Meri,
Janelle, Christine, and Robyn — as well as their many children. But while there was
drama on the show, there was also trouble brewing off camera. This is the truth about
Sister Wives.
When you think of the Brown family parent unit, you might assume that they all grew
up living in plural families. But as it turns out, Kody Brown, the man at the center of
four marriages and the person without whom Sister Wives could never exist, didn't grow
up with polygamist parents. Brown explained that while his parents were indeed Mormon,
they were in a committed monogamous relationship. Still, when Kody was 21, he converted to fundamentalist
Mormonism and the rest is history. He said on the show,
"I have adopted a faith that embraces that lifestyle. In fact, it recommends it and likes
to reward good behavior. So if you're good with one marriage, they figure you'll be good
with two."
"I hope they think I'll be good with four."
Because the Brown family had kept their lifestyle on the down-low for so long, it was a huge
decision for them to finally say yes to doing a show. They knew it would result in a ton
of press coverage and social media chatter about their family — and specifically, their
plural marriage. But it seems as though the Browns knew that going in, and they even welcomed
the discussion. Christine Brown explained to the Las Vegas Sun,
"We have a story that needs to be heard. We're a normal, healthy and happy family. That's
why we decided to show you our family."
Kody also added that they hoped Sister Wives would ultimately make a difference for other
families, too. He said,
"We thought if we open up, other fundamentalist families could open up."
But while they may have succeeded in normalizing plural marriages for fans of the show, the
Browns' newfound notoriety didn't come without opposition.
Because the practice of polygamyis not legal in the United States, those practicing the
same faith as the Brown family quickly became apprehensive about a reality show that put
a magnifying glass to plural marriage. And, as it turned out, the Brown family's church
would soon raise a few questions.
Even before the show actually premiered, members of the church saw plenty of Sister Wives promos
on TV, including one in which the family touched on the concept of intimacy. Janelle Brown
wrote in the family's book, Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage,
"When our church community saw the preview they understandably became upset. Many hadn't
been thrilled with our decision to do the program in the first place, and now they were
worried that we were going to be sensational and improper."
As you might expect, the fallout from launching their own reality show on national TV was
intense and immediate. And as seen in the second season of Sister Wives, the Browns
even had to have conversations with their children about how to navigate the new territory,
since by that point, even random strangers knew their names. But while they might have
become celebrities overnight, the Browns tried to keep things as normal as possible for their
kids. Christine shared with Today,
"No matter how crazy it gets, we try so hard to [keep] the family routine. We all have
dinner together Friday night, we have lunch Sunday. For the kids' sake we try to keep
that normal routine going. No matter how crazy it is."
Sure, all of America now knew about the inner workings of their living situation, but that
didn't mean their actual family dynamic had to change. As Sister Wives proved, the Browns
are still a normal family. Maybe bigger — and with more wives and moms — but still a devoted
family.
In addition to essentially outing themselves as a polygamous family after Sister Wives
premiered, the Brown family also had to deal with their coworkers and strangers on the
street knowing their business, and having lots of opinions about it. And for one Sister
Wife, that meant a change in occupation.
On Season 2 of the show, Meri explained that the series premiere actually resulted in some
pretty tough real world consequences for her. Specifically, she lost her job in the field
of mental health. She shared with Today,
"Losing the job because of the lifestyle — that still stings. Having now moved to Las Vegas,
it's lightened that a bit. It's like, I couldn't have kept the job anyway. But the fact that
it happened is hard."
A cornerstone of the polygamous lifestyle is the husband's relationship with multiple
wives. And because of that, many wondered just how Robyn, Meri, Christine and Janelle
really feel about the assumed patriarchal structure of the family. While each wife appears
to be happy with the arrangement, Janelle, for her part, doesn't feel limited by her
marriage at all. She told the Las Vegas Sun,
"It's true that Kody is the glue that holds us together, but I definitely have my voice.
I feel very liberated."
"The men in our world generally are super busy meeting everybody's needs."
Christine, on the other hand, actually doesn't mind having Kody take the reins. She said,
"I feel our family is very patriarchal, but it's exactly what I wanted. I just want to
be a princess in life."
Because the Browns lead what might be described as an alternative lifestyle, as far as the
typical American family goes, it's natural that there would be questions about how things
work within their plural marriage. Is there jealousy between the wives? What do their
kids call each other? And of course, what is the sleeping arrangement?
"We're sisters."
"Sisters from the same mister. She's a sister from the same mister and he's a brother from
another mother."
The family explained that their living situation wasn't all that special. With the debut of
Season 1, the Browns were all living in one house in Utah. Meri revealed on the show,
"Christine and Janelle and I each have our own bedrooms, and Kody is welcome in each
of those bedrooms alone. That's just how it is. We don't [get] weird."
After moving to separate houses in Las Vegas and then Flagstaff, Arizona, it's clear that
while the larger family unit remains strong, the wives enjoy separate private lives.
Perhaps the biggest repercussion of the family's show was that the Browns subsequently fell
under investigation in Utah for bigamy, according ABC News. So they decided to move from the
state where they were being persecuted, despite it being their home for so many years.
"The best plan is for us to leave the state of Utah. And go somewhere where essentially
it would be safe."
Choosing to see the silver lining during the difficult transition, Janelle said on the
show,
"We have a chance now to start, all of us, at ground zero."
Fortunately, the Browns were able to find a supportive network in Las Vegas. Kody shared
with Today,
"It's a great community. People have reached out to us, and they say 'Hey, you're just
like everybody else, we like you.'"
In 2012, the investigation into the Browns was ultimately dropped. And by 2020, according
to CNN, Utah had passed a law that decriminalized bigamy.
"We're like no longer felons for living our religion."
As you might expect, the Brown family was initially apprehensive about what people might
think of them once Sister Wives premiered. But as it turns out, they didn't really need
to stress about it. As Janelle pointed out in the second season, as difficult as it all
had been on the family, there were some positives to the experience. She told Today,
"We've had so many blessings through this. We've had so many people reach out and say,
'you're not weird.' I hope in the long run the show builds that tolerance. That's really
what we're hoping for, is it's another voice for tolerance."
By all accounts, it appears that the show has succeeded in doing just that.
When it came to creating a reality show for a national audience, the Brown family assumed
that their series would depict how fun and joyful their family was. But it was a total
surprise when cameras captured the drama between them, as well. Janelle wrote in the family's
book,
"We thought our show would touch on the sweeter side of our life and never probe beneath the
surface. We were totally unprepared for the reality of confronting our issues in front
of the TV cameras."
"That's just way too exposed. Way too uncomfortable."
Janelle explained that the Browns all thought their show would take on more of the tone
of 19 Kids & Counting, another popular TLC reality series about a large family. But Sister
Wives went deep, featuring many of the family's issues front and center for fans.
For a gang as large as the Browns, you might expect that at least some of their kids might
want to seek out a plural marriage of their own one day. But as it turns out, not one
of the Brown children has sought out anything of the sort — nor do they plan to, it seems.
During a tell-all in 2015, Kody's older kids explained that they weren't interested in
pursuing plural marriage for themselves. Meri's daughter, Mariah, who is engaged to her fiancée
Audrey as of early 2021, explained that polygamy wasn't for her. And Christine's daughter Aspyn
chimed in, saying,
"I'm the same. I don't want to do plural marriage. I kind of feel bad that none of us want to,
but it was just not what we were meant to do I guess."
When it comes to how their parents feel about it, it looks like the Browns just hope their
children stay true to their spirituality.
"Above all else, no matter what, is to have a connection to God. And I think that will
take them to where they need to be."
While the wives have admitted to certain bouts of jealousy when it comes to the relationship
between each other, fans also wondered about the logistics of bringing a new wife into
the fold. Well, in at least one case, the sister wives already knew each other; Janelle
was once married to Meri's brother. Describing one of her first meetings with Kody, Janelle
wrote in the family's book,
"Since I had married her brother, I was friendly with Meri. […] That evening, when Kody walked
into the house to join the party, the strangest feeling washed over me."
"I grew up in the mainstream Mormon church and they don't practice polygamy. I had no
idea there was even such a thing as polygamists."
Although she was in the middle of a divorce, she immediately felt a strong connection with
Kody. And it appears that already being friendly with Meri made it feel like she was finally
joining the family she was always meant to share.
When you hear about families who have their own reality shows like the Kardashians or
the Duggars, you probably can't help but wonder about how much cash they must be raking in,
putting their private lives on TV. But as far as Sister Wives is concerned, it appears
there's not that much money to be made from airing all of your family's never-ending laundry.
As the IBT reported, the Brown family has experienced some cash flow issues over the
years. Despite the fact that they are likely getting reasonably impressive paychecks from
TLC for their successful show, money's reportedly still tight for Browns. The outlet cited the
fact that Christine Brown had asked fans on Facebook to help fund a $50,000 medical bill
for her daughter and that they reportedly owed more than $5,000 in property taxes for
one home.
"You don't wanna admit that you let this happen to you."
Just because the Brown family has their own reality series and is relatively famous for
it, that doesn't mean they don't deal with regular-people struggles. For example, Meri
was catfished by a woman pretending to be a man seeking a romantic relationship with
her, in 2015. Meri explained that it soon became clear that the person she was talking
to online wasn't who they said they were. She told People,
"I became fearful of the online relationship as I became aware of the deception. I didn't
know how to get out of the situation without putting myself, family, and friends at greater
risk. It was a very difficult time. I had a lot of anxiety."
"My relationship with Meri is, at best, just distant and amicable."
On a 2021 episode of the show, years after the incident, even Kody noted that the incident
had a deeply damaging impact on his relationship with Meri. Though the family has since moved
on, the negative effects appear to be everlasting.
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