While pregnant with her fourth child, Sister Wives star Madison Brush didn’t anticipate a close relationship with her and Kody Brown’s child’s father.
During the November 9th episode of the TLC show, Janelle Brown said her daughter Maddie doesn’t usually tell her father about her pregnancies when she’s expecting.
Kody’s wife also said he would eventually learn about it, and there wasn’t a need to tell him in advance. She explained that they hadn’t talked in a couple of years – probably two or three.
Seven months after Maddie and her husband, Caleb Brush, welcomed their fourth child, Emilia, in March – joining siblings Axel (8), Evie (6), and Josephine (2) – Maddie publicly criticized her father.
In October, the mother of four shared an inspirational message on her Instagram Stories about being mindful of where you invest your energy. She then explained how she learned to prioritize in that way.
She messaged a follower seeking advice, explaining that when someone’s father publicly spreads false information about them, it’s a harsh but rapid lesson in how the world works.
Although Kody has started to admit his part in the family’s problems, fixing things will take a long time.
Last November, Maddie shared that she’d cut off contact with her father because he always tried to control their relationship.
She explained on her 2024 podcast, The Authentic Society, that he disregards personal boundaries and insists on getting his way, something she’s unwilling to accommodate.
Calling herself “a straight shooter,” Maddie revealed her father would get upset by her honesty.
She explained that whenever she shared her opinion, he would become upset. He especially disliked it when she pointed out his predictable reactions, saying, ‘I don’t understand why you’re acting surprised.’ This was a major reason she decided to cut off all contact with him, as he couldn’t handle someone reflecting his behavior back to him.
She explained that he often became defensive and would strongly deny things, even when she knew for a fact they were true. She’d tell him, ‘You’re wrong, and I know because I experienced it myself.’
Lately, though, the 30-year-old has shown a willingess to view Kody’s stance.
She admitted on the season premiere of Sister Wives that she wants her father to be present in their lives and hopes they can repair their relationship. She also acknowledged her own role in the issues and expressed frustration with still needing to manage her expectations.
She explained that she’s still getting to know him as a person and trying to understand why he acted the way he did. She realizes he may not have known how to express himself and could be going through his own struggles.
Kody still appears to be struggling emotionally after Christine Brown left him, an experience he described as feeling like a stab to the kidneys. Janelle and Meri Brown soon followed, leaving Robyn Brown as his only remaining wife.
I basically pushed my sadness aside,” the 56-year-old explained on the show’s September 28th episode. “I’m at a loss for what to do next, and I really want to feel better, surrounded by the people I care about.
That’s just one of the many surprising things he and his wives – both current and past – have revealed this season. Read on for all the honest moments they’ve shared.
Now officially separated from her ex-husband, Kody Brown, Janelle Brown shared in the season 20 premiere of Sister Wives that she’s taking a similar approach to Meri Brown.
I was so surprised to learn that Kody and I were never actually legally married, even after 29 years together! I’d actually considered the idea of a spiritual divorce a long time ago, but I didn’t even know it was something you could do. So when Meri went through with one, I immediately thought, ‘Okay, how do I get started?’ It was a bit of a revelation, honestly.
Janelle’s former sister wife—who had previously been released from their church due to feeling abandoned—was glad to help connect Janelle with other family members. Janelle explained, ‘She’s been really helpful in getting me back in touch with everyone.’
Madison Brush is still dealing with the fallout from her father’s actions. Despite being estranged from Kody, Madison—one of his six children with Janelle—shared on the September 28th episode that she continues to struggle with their separation.
The mother of four admitted she hopes her husband’s father will be present, and that she desires a resolution to their issues. She acknowledged her own role in the situation, but expressed frustration as she continues to work on managing her expectations and avoiding disappointment.
She’s finding it difficult to accept him as he is. She explained that she’s working on understanding that he may not have known how to be there for her, and that he could be going through his own pain.
He also might not be willing to cede too much ground.
Kody expressed wanting to repair his relationships with Meri, Janelle, Christine Brown, and all their children. He believes progress is stalled because, for any healing to occur, it needs to happen when and how they want it to.
Robyn Brown, Kody’s last remaining wife, says she always desired a family, not just a relationship with him. On the September 28th episode of the show, she shared that she had received marriage proposals before – not grand gestures, but several men had told her they would marry her quickly.
She consistently stated she was open to the idea of plural marriage, saying something along the lines of, ‘I was prepared to consider living in a marriage with multiple partners.’ She also added that if Kody hadn’t already been married with three wives, she would have given him the same answer.
Kody explained that, despite not planning to be exclusive, he and his partner had become a couple, saying, ‘It’s just you and me now.’
Though he admittedly had one concern.
Kody hinted to Robyn that he desired a more fulfilling intimate life. In a private interview, he explained his perspective: he believed polygamy allowed him to have everything he wanted, while monogamy left him feeling unfulfilled.
Meri is actively dating and has a clear idea of what she wants in a partner. She’s looking for a tall man who loves to travel and, importantly, prefers dogs over cats, as she shared on a recent episode of the show.
And she definitely needs someone who won’t scare easily.
She described a difficult dating experience where a man ended the conversation as soon as he learned she practiced polygamy. He told her he wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation, and she felt very hurt that he dismissed her simply because of her relationship style, asking herself, ‘You’re not interested in getting to know me just because I’m a polygamist?’
Meri explained that it was the first time she truly understood that some people would be unwilling to even begin a conversation with her because of who she was.
Janelle firmly believes she was the only one in her large family who really desired to settle on Coyote Pass.
On the October 3rd episode of the show, Janelle revealed she wasn’t sure she ever truly wanted the whole family to live on the 14-acre Coyote Pass property they bought before moving to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2018. She was discussing the family’s disagreements over the land.
Although Kody’s second wife thought living there could work—she described the land as beautiful and wondered why not?—she believed her ex-husband and his other wives were only briefly interested in the idea.
She explained that no one was eager to live in that location, especially not Christine. Meri would have agreed to move if everyone else had, but they didn’t.
Janelle observed that Kody and Robyn’s former property, a two-acre home with five bedrooms that they recently sold for $1.7 million, felt unfinished despite being mostly built.
Janelle explained that despite the initial agreement to divide the land into four parts, she quickly realized after moving to Flagstaff that it wouldn’t work out.
Kody believes he knows why his relationships with most of his adult children (excluding Robyn’s oldest, Dayton, and her daughters Aurora and Breanna) aren’t very good.
He admitted on October 5th that he and his adult children have a difficult relationship. He explained that constant teasing and subtle jabs have created problems with trust and loyalty for everyone involved.
And these days, not many of his grown kids are on Team Kody.
Even though Mykelti Padron, one of Christine’s six children, had seemed the most publicly supportive of her father, she shared her thoughts on the family split several months after she, her husband Tony Padron, and their three children moved to North Carolina.
She suggested that if he simply took responsibility for his actions, at least some of his children might try to reconnect with him. During a fan Q&A in October 2024, shared on Instagram (@withoutacrystalball), she explained that instead of blaming his children, his other wife, other parents, or rumors, a simple apology and willingness to discuss what he did wrong could make a huge difference. She believes saying something like, ‘I understand I messed up. I’m sorry. Can we talk?’ would be a significant step forward.
When Coyote Pass was sold in April 2025, Janelle and Meri finalized their separations from Kody, each receiving money from the sale. Christine had previously traded her share of the land to keep the profits from selling her house in Arizona.
On the October 5th episode, Janelle playfully told Meri it felt like saying, “Goodbye, and I don’t expect to see you again.”
But she certainly wouldn’t have waved off an even nicer present.
She stated that if she and Kody had been legally married, she would have been entitled to half of his possessions, as they would have been considered jointly owned.
Kody and Robyn had to finalize the purchase of their new $2.1 million home before they could give up on their plans for Coyote Pass. Kody explained on the October 12th episode that selling the Coyote Pass property only became possible when they found a different house they really wanted.
The father of eighteen children is also looking forward to leaving behind painful memories from their old house. He explained, “We’ve gone through a lot of difficult times here, and we’re hoping for a fresh start – a completely new chapter in our lives.”
Kody believed he could love multiple wives, but admitted his attention wasn’t spread evenly among them. In an October 19th episode, he explained that while he was committed to the idea of plural marriage and his family, he found it hard to fully dedicate himself to each individual wife, and felt they didn’t always fully support each other or him either.
He believes one of his mistakes was giving Robyn a lavish lifestyle – a $1.65 million, five-bedroom house – while his other wives had more modest living arrangements. Reflecting on the end of his marriages to Meri, Janelle, and Christine, he said he doesn’t understand what went wrong, but he acknowledges that providing Robyn with such a nice home created jealousy. He felt he had gone to great lengths to ensure Robyn’s security, and his other wives struggled with that disparity.
Christine found it difficult to relax around Kody. As she explained on the October 26th episode, he required a lot of attention and had many specific needs – from what he ate to his personal grooming.
Bottom line, she noted, “It was a lot.”
Janelle isn’t eager to start a new relationship anytime soon, especially after her split from Kody. She admitted to Christine and her husband, David Woolley, that she found Kody to be very demanding and believes that relationships in general require a lot of effort.
You know, I’ve been working with people on finding love for years, and I completely understand where she’s coming from. She’s really pushing back against her partner, David, wanting her to try a dating site like FarmersOnly. She told the cameras, and it was so relatable, that she just isn’t interested in dating right now, and she’s firmly telling him ‘no, no, no!’ It’s about respecting her boundaries and her need to focus on herself, and honestly, good for her!
Kody generally avoided accidentally calling his wives by the wrong name. As Christine explained on the November 2nd episode, there were times when hearing another wife’s name would have been particularly hurtful, and he never made that mistake. “There’s certain moments you don’t want to hear another woman’s name,” she said, “You know those moments that I’m talking about. Never happened.”
Though there were some close calls.
I often found myself doing that,” Kody confessed. “I definitely have, and I even used to initiate things only to change direction later.”
To hear Christine tell it, she felt quite stabbed in the kidney by her former sister wife.
She told David on the November 2nd episode that she felt deeply betrayed by Robyn, explaining that she’d lost all trust in her. She shared that she used to tell Robyn private things, but then those secrets would get her into trouble with Kody, making him angry. Because of this, she stopped sharing anything personal with Robyn.
But Robyn insisted she was just trying to play marriage counselor.
Christine often told me she wished Kody understood what she was going through, that she was really struggling. I was a bit naive and thought I could fix things by helping, but looking back, I should have just let it be.
Meri used to be flattered by the idea that Kody saw her as his favorite ex-wife, but she wasn’t interested in chatting when he called to discuss selling their house in Arizona.
He reflected on a conversation with Janelle, recalling that things used to be good with Meri – he specifically remembered helping her move to Parowan, Utah, and it being a positive experience. However, he noted that their relationship has become strained and awkward since then.
However, Meri maintained she was only interested in business matters, especially after hearing Kody’s comments from earlier seasons of the show.
I had to be firm and set clear limits with him,” she said. “It’s frustrating when he acts like everything is okay on these video calls, pretending nothing happened after some of the hurtful things he’s said to me and my friends. I won’t tolerate that behavior.
Okay, so Christine finally said YES to David’s proposal last year – it was the cutest! But honestly, it’s just… weird to me that her ex feels like he deserved a say in who she marries. Like, seriously? She’s moved on, she’s happy, and he’s still stuck on having some kind of control? It just doesn’t sit right with me, you know? She deserves all the happiness in the world with David!
Kody explained that his youngest daughter, Truely, lives with David, and he feels he should get to know him.
In fact, he mused, he “should have had the right, even, to discriminate David.”
Janelle was happy to get her part of the Coyote Pass property back and wasn’t upset about the money she’d already given Robyn and Kody towards their large house in Arizona.
She explained on the November 2nd episode that her children think she should try to recover the money she invested in Robyn’s house, but she anticipates a difficult legal battle to do so.
She explained that trying to get money from Kody is difficult, because he always has a long list of excuses for why he doesn’t owe it.
Okay, so he seriously thinks he’s done with Janelle! He kept going on and on about how she helped them buy the house, and he swore he paid her back way back in January. He even said she told him it was all settled – like, she actually said, ‘We’re good, you’ve more than made up for it!’ It’s just… I can’t believe he’s acting like that debt is completely erased. It feels like he’s conveniently forgetting everything else she’s done for them, honestly. It’s driving me crazy!
Should Kody still be interested in having his love multiplied, there’s no shortage of options.
He told Robyn on November 2nd that he’d received another email from a woman discussing plural marriage.
He told Robyn that his former wife was upset with his decision to end polygamy. Then, surprisingly, she offered to join their family – essentially, she was criticizing him while also expressing interest in becoming part of their lives.
To be honest, Robyn didn’t immediately reject the idea. She later confessed that for a moment, she wondered if it might actually be what she’d always dreamed of, and if it would be a good fit.
Ultimately, though, it was a no.
She was upset they contacted Kody directly. She believes it’s generally considered disrespectful to approach a man who is already in a polygamous relationship; you should always go through his wives first.
Even though Kody admits his fractured relationship with his child is a “failure of the family,” he needs to make significant changes if he wants to improve things.
You know, as a lifestyle expert, family dynamics are always fascinating, and the Brown family is no exception! On a recent episode of their show, Maddie shared she’s expecting her fourth child. It was a bit surprising to hear that she hadn’t told her dad, Kody, right away. Janelle, her mom, explained that there wasn’t really a need to – they haven’t been in regular contact for a couple of years, maybe two or three. It’s a reminder that families are complex, and everyone handles things differently, especially during big life moments.
Janelle wasn’t just interested in Kody romantically; she also wanted to be part of the existing family. Meri, who was already married to Kody when Janelle joined the family three years later – after a short marriage to Meri’s brother – shared on November 9th that she appreciated how considerate Janelle was during that time. Meri felt Janelle made an effort to include her and avoid causing any hurt feelings.
Meri admitted that she felt jealous and a mix of other emotions as they navigated the challenges of trying to make plural marriage work. She also said it made her feel cherished that her wife was willing to try.
Read More
- BTC PREDICTION. BTC cryptocurrency
- One of Razer’s top gaming headsets — now over 40% off on Amazon
- Dark Auction launches January 29, 2026
- Yakuza Maker’s Next PS5 Game Gets a Brief Behind-the-Scenes Video
- AKIBA LOST main visual, leading cast members revealed
- Square Enix Invests in Nuuvem to Launch spawnd, a New Browser-Native Game Discovery Platform
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Claws of Awaji Expansion Has Arrived on PS5
- Claim This Free PS5 Game in PS Store Cock Up
- ‘Back to the Future’ Returning to Theaters For 40th Anniversary
- Kelly Osbourne Shared Last Video With Ozzy Osbourne Days Before Death
2025-11-10 07:19