‘I’ve always thought it was so dumb’: ‘Sister Wives’ stars sound off on plural marriage struggles

Janelle and Christine Brown are sharing their thoughts on some of Kody Brown‘s tenets of plural marriage, and it’s clear they weren’t on the same page as the Sister Wives patriarch.

In a sneak peek of the Sunday, Sep. 10 episode of Sister Wives shared by People, Brown’s ex-wives open up about his concept of “sacred loneliness.” As Kody Brown explains it, “There’s this term of ‘sacred loneliness’ because their husband’s not around as much.” Christine Brown laughs at the term and says, “Sacred loneliness? Like you’re supposed to honor the fact that you’re lonely?” As for Janelle Brown, she explains, “The idea is that you sacrifice some of your emotional needs because you want to live a plural marriage… I’ve always thought it was so dumb. Sorry.”

Meri Brown says she’s never heard that term before and “think[s] it’s stupid.” She adds that when Kody Brown opens up about how “hard” plural marriage is on women, she thinks, “Really, now you figure that out?” However, Robyn Brown defends the concept and explains her side, “Yeah, plural marriage can be lonely. In my head, it’s an opportunity for you to get a relationship with God.”

The preview for the episode shows that there is also a disconnect between Kody Brown and Janelle and Christine Brown’s perspectives about how they joined the family. In a confessional interview, Brown explains that he “courted” both Meri and Robyn Brown, whereas Christine and Janelle Brown asked him if they could join his family. He says that because they asked, he came back to them with “special requirements” for them to join his family. His special requirement was primarily their agreement that it was a plural marriage and they both had to be committed to him.

However, Janelle Brown explains that she doesn’t feel it’s fair that because she and Christine Brown asked their now ex-husband to join his family, they “deserve less” than the other women who were “invited.” “It wasn’t like we were begging to be in the family,” she says. “We simply asked, there was a courtship and then we all got married.”

The ongoing season of Sister Wives is showing the strain on the Brown family after Christine and Kody Brown’s divorce. As viewers will recall, Christine Brown announced she was leaving the plural marriage in November 2021. She is now engaged to David Woolley. In December 2022, during the three-part One on One special after season 17, Janelle and Meri Brown both shared that they were separated from Kody Brown. The Sister Wives patriarch is now in a monogamous marriage with Robyn Brown.