Kody Brown was in the spotlight throughout 2022 and continues to be the topic of interest in early 2023 for unwillingly leaving his previously polygamous lifestyle. The audience is still captivated by the star of the “Sister Wives” TV show despite a crucial shift in his daily life, going from having four wives to only having one. On top of transitioning from polygamy to monogamy, not all his children live nearby. Instead of 18, he now shares his home with only a dozen. That’s the short answer to the question about who is still with Kody Brown on “Sister Wives”.
The reality is a bit more complicated, especially since we’re unsure if anyone will join the show if he gets married again. After all, his Instagram bio still states ‘Father of eighteen, husband to four. I love ‘em all.’ despite three previous wives publicly splitting and moving out of the marital home. That’s because, although he is legally married to Robyn Brown, he regarded his polygamous marriage as a spiritual union, ‘a plural marriage’ beyond the confines of the law. Thus, even though he is divorced from them, he still cares about the three ex-wives and the children they share.
Who is Kody Brown living with in 2023?
To attempt to predict the future, we must delve deeper into Kody Brown and his drastically smaller family unit at this time. Kody Brown is living with Robyn Alice, née Sullivan, Brown, his only wife as of 2023, and their children, in a big house and Robyn’s RV (recreational vehicle) camper on a large property in Coyote Pass in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. He spiritually married her in 2010, but only married her legally in 2014 after he divorced Meri, his first wife, to lawfully adopt the three children from Robyn’s previous marriage.
Kody shares five children with Robyn, three adopted and two biological. The eldest adopted son, David Dayton Brown, lives at home with his parents because he was accepted to Northern Arizona University in 2018. His former sister Gwendlyn called him ‘a hermit’ because he’s a homebody and always busy studying for three majors. The family cites this as the reason David rarely appears in season 17 of the TV show and online.
Aurora Jessop is Kody’s eldest adopted daughter, born in June 2003, and hasn’t been among the most liked personalities, like Breanna Jessop, her younger sister. Both were called ‘mean girls’ in October 2022 when they seemingly innocently asked whether the bunk beds in their former sister Savannah’s bedroom are ‘gonna be for doggies?’. Kody and Robyn also have two other biological children, Solomon Brown, born October 2011, and Ariella Mae Brown, whom they welcomed into the world in January 2016. They are all expected to make regular to recurring appearances.
When did the family move to the current “Sister Wives” location?
Up until 2018, the family lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, and their move was the main topic of the season of the TV show that aired in early 2019. Interestingly, viewers couldn’t have imagined the family would split up in a few years. They seemed optimistic, jointly stating, ‘As much as we’ve loved making our home and memories here in Las Vegas, we are excited to embark on a new adventure in Flagstaff, Arizona!’
The family cited several reasons for the move. Some were general ones such as wanting to reconnect as a family. Others were specific, like mortgage problems and market changes, worrying that the Las Vegas culture would influence their children’s religious beliefs negatively, and Kody’s desire to occasionally make drastic changes to ‘shake things up’. They also desired ‘cooler temperatures, mountain air, scenic views, and the slower lifestyle of Flagstaff.’
Although the plan was for Kody to purchase a huge home to house his enormous family, the four wives decided to get separate plots of land and build houses there. Until the construction finishes, each wife will live in an RV parked on the property. With that in mind, let’s fast-forward to the current situation.
Will Christine, Meri, and Janelle appear on “Sister Wives” again?
Loyal viewers know the situation, but here’s a quick recapitulation to see if there’s a chance Janelle, Meri, and Christine will come back to the reality TV show in future seasons.
Meri
Meri has a long history with the family since Kody married her in 1990, and the two remained in a legal marriage until he married Robyn 24 years later. They went through a catfishing scandal in 2015 that seemingly changed it all. A viewer who pretended to be a man catfished Meri and the two hit it off. An erosion of trust on Kody’s side slowly turned their relationship platonic and non-sexual.
Meri thought the two could work it out at first, and that time would heal the marital issues. However, the preview of the “Sister Wives: One on One” episode in December 2022 shed light on the issue and suggested their relationship reached its end. She shared her opinion, saying, ‘It’s an end of something that we had, in a way, for 24-and-a-half years, but at the same time, I know it’s not, because I have eternity with him.’ Kody’s response was straightforward, revealing, ‘No, I don’t consider myself married to Meri. If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn’t get an argument with me.’
The relationship between Meri and Kodi ended in January 2023, with a shared statement that their marriage relationship is done for. However, they committed to caring for each other and Leon, their transgender gender-fluid child. Things would end there if it wasn’t for Meri’s enigmatic Instagram posts with the caption, ‘There’s so much more to the story…’ and a picture of a book covering half her face. This could suggest that Meri is either writing a tell-tale book about her experience in the marriage or that TLC would grant her a special.
Janelle
Janelle joined the plural marriage with Kody in 1993 as his second wife and the only one that doesn’t have a polygamous family background. Unfortunately, the two parted ways in December 2022. She lived in an RV on the property until November 2021, after which she moved to ‘short-term housing in town’ for the winter. She planned to return to long-term RV living in spring 2022 and started building a house at the Coyote Pass property in April 2022 where she will live with her children.
Janelle left the marriage in December 2022 and didn’t seem shaken up about the divorce on the outside. Immediately after they separated, an independent source to the press commented that ‘Janelle is a strong independent woman, and realized she can do it on her own.’ She proved that in January 2023, first by stating this would ‘be her year’. Janelle then elaborated, stating she began a health journey to get into excellent physical shape, demonstrating squats with a barbell loaded with 10 kg or 22 lb of weight.
She hasn’t commented on her desire to remain a regular in “Sister Wives” but Christine’s comment suggests she will continue to appear regularly, although potentially from Utah.
Christine
Christine became spiritually married to Kody Brown in 1994, and announced her split in November 2021, after 25 years. She said that the two ‘have grown apart’. Christine sold her portion of the Coyote Pass property and moved to Utah, her home state, in July 2022. Some estimates of the property’s value reach $213,000, yet she sold it to Kody for only $10.
The way she left the family unit and how quickly things transpired astounded some viewers. After all, she had problems with jealousy and claimed she wasn’t strong alone and found it hard. Luckily, viewers who loved watching her on-screen can continue to do, but not in “Sister Wives”. TLC premiered her new show, “Cooking with Just Christine” in 2022. Although the emphasis is on ‘just’ Christine, some of her children joined her adventures in the kitchen on camera. It seems like she is enjoying her post-marriage life and even stated she is interested in dating someone new, although it was ‘awkward’.
Viewers reached out to her on TikTok with concerns over her exit, especially after seeing her last day on set in the family TV show. To everyone’s surprise, Christine shared a TikTok video of a TV set being built in her Utah home’s basement. She added that it was her favorite room. Also, in a public statement, Christine said, ‘I made a promise to Kody and everybody else that I would stay in “Sister Wives” as long as we have the show, just to be fair.’ She also found the idea of a spin-off ‘fun as heck’.
Also, Christine remains close to Janelle, took family vacations with her and their kids for years, and expressed the desire to ‘do things with Janelle Brown regularly’. On the other hand, the chances of her rekindling her friendship with Meri are close to zero, as Christine put a stop to their close bond years ago, and all contact since her spiritual divorce.
Will his other kids come back to the TV show?
Based on the last season, we know not all of Kody’s other kids are in the public eye. Some have moved on from the show while others occasionally post social media or LinkedIn updates. To determine if any plan to return to the show, let’s study how their lives unfolded.
A child he shares with Meri
Meri and Kody have one child, Leon Brown, who came out as queer and transgender in June 2022. Leon revealed their new pronouns are ‘they/them’ and that people can also call them Leo. Moreover, in January 2023, they shared an update about undergoing a gender-reaffirming top surgery to remove breast tissue and received the support of their spouse, Audrey Kriss. However, neither shared plans to appear on the TV show again.
Children with Christine
Kody and Christine have six children, the oldest being daughter Aspyn Brown, followed by daughter Mykelti Brown, son Paedon Brown, and three daughters, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, and Truely. Aspyn had a 120-guest wedding in Sandy, Utah, and married Mitch Thompson after a 400-person reception in mid-2018. She is leading a life away from the spotlight. Mykelti married Antoni “Tony” Padron and gave birth to twins, Ace McCord Padron and Archer Banks Padron, in November 2022. They also share a daughter, Avalon Asa, born in 2021.
Paedon is active on social media, notably TikTok, and shares funny fan encounters. Gwendlyn Brown got engaged in December 2022 to her girlfriend Beatriz Queiroz. Truely Brown has appeared on the TV show before and shortly after her parents divorced. She felt betrayed because she was among the last to know about the divorce as they all feared her reaction. She will likely come back to “Sister Wives” alongside her sister Ysabel since they both moved back to Utah with their mom. Truely also started attending middle school in Utah.
Kody’s kids with Janelle
Janelle and Kody have six kids, from youngest to oldest, daughter Savannah, sons Gabriel “Gabe”, Garrison, and Hunter, daughter Madison, and son Logan. We know that Savannah lived with her mom up until November 2021, but couldn’t endure the RV living any longer and moved to short-term housing. She seems to live with her mom in 2023. Hunter Brown also moved back to Arizona, and in 2023, graduated with a master’s degree in Nursing from John Hopkins University after he graduated with a biology major from Air Force Academy. Contrarily, Logan got engaged to his girlfriend Michelle Petty in September 2017 and married her in October 2022 before moving away from home.
Although Savannah, Hunter, Gabriel, and Garrison seem to live with their mom, it’s undecided whether the TV show will focus on them. Their son Gabe is least likely to come back to the show because his dad forgot his birthday in December 2022, and instead discussed COVID-19 on the phone. This insulted him and prompted him to stop speaking to his father.
Will Kody remain a polygamist?
Whether Kody Brown is looking for a new wife has been a question on many viewers’ minds at the beginning of 2023 after things started going downhill several months before. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of uncertainty and several arguments for monogamy and polygamy going forward.
Insider scoop about his polygamy
An insider told People magazine that Kody is ‘a proud polygamist’ and that it is ‘the lifestyle he is accustomed to and in his mind’. Hence, he ‘wouldn’t remain happy as a monogamist married to Robyn’. This is unsurprising and in line with what the TV show personality claimed for as long as the show has been on the air. However, recent developments tell a different story.
Kody’s struggles with religious and personal beliefs
The road Kody takes wouldn’t be questioned if it wasn’t for the statements he made in late 2022. He was vocal about struggling to wholeheartedly believe in living a life with multiple wives. After Christine Brown left the marriage, his faith was rocked, and he stated, ‘It’s a weird thing to be getting left. It’s made me question getting into plural marriage. It’s made me question my faith, and especially question my religion.’
He claimed he handled the divorce poorly, revealing he has been in ‘an anger phase’ long after the divorce. This seemed like a passing pang of doubt to fans, but he also revealed he was ‘on the verge of not even being a [sic] polygamous’ in later episodes. Christine also spotted a personality change, claiming he ‘no longer has the capacity’ to be polygamous. Additionally, in her opinion, Robyn was his ‘soul mate’ and Kody should thereafter turn to monogamy.
Sister Wives’ Kody was ‘openly flirty’ with Robyn but lost power, expert says https://t.co/g1XbWz3wIu
— The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) February 1, 2023
What does Robyn think of monogamy?
Viewers know that Robyn’s opinion will play a big role in the development of their relationship and the decision to accept a new wife. She seems to be all in, although concerned with moving too fast, saying bringing someone new so soon after Janelle, Meri, and Christine left ‘feels disrespectful’.
Also, although Kody said ‘no’ to getting a new wife in season 17, she felt like she could ask him to try polygamy again. However, she’s scared of another poor outcome based on recent events despite struggling with the idea of monogamy. She truly wants ‘that house with us on the porch in the rocking chairs with our grandkids and our kids around us. You know, the grandparent ranch.’
Who is coming back for season 18 of “Sister Wives”?
With all the bits of information mentioned so far, Kody, Christine, Robyn, and most likely Janelle will continue to appear in “Sister Wives”. Their biological and adopted children with their families may do so occasionally, depending on whether they’re accustomed to their lives off-camera. Since he’s been accused of not equally investing time and effort into all his children, it depends on how well Kody balances relationships and contact with everyone.
