Sister Wives Star Janelle Brown Reflects on Her First Marriage Before Kody Brown

Long before Sister Wives introduced viewers to the complex dynamics of the Brown family, Janelle Brown and Meri Brown were already connected in a way few fans realized. Their relationship didn’t begin as sister wives—it began as sisters-in-law.

During the Jan. 4 episode of TLC’s Sister Wives, Janelle, 56, and Meri, 54, revisited that shared history while sitting together at a coffee shop, opening up about a connection that predates Janelle’s marriage to Kody Brown by several years.

From Sisters-in-Law to Sister Wives

Meri was the first to explain the unusual family tie, reminding viewers that Janelle had once been married to her brother.

“Janelle and I were actually sisters-in-law before we were sister wives,” Meri shared.

She went on to recall just how intertwined their lives were even back then.

“She’d been married to my brother and she was actually at my wedding with him,” Meri continued. “And then they divorced after Kody and I got married.”

Janelle later filled in the details of that early chapter of her life, revealing that she met Meri’s brother while still in high school.

“I met Meri’s brother when I was a senior in high school and we got married about a year to a year and a half or so after I graduated,” Janelle said, describing the union as brief.

“We were married for less than a year,” she revealed.

Why It Was Harder for Meri Than Janelle

While Janelle viewed her first marriage as a short-lived experience that didn’t carry much weight, Meri admitted it made things far more emotionally complicated when the idea of Janelle joining the family emerged.

“When the conversation about Janelle coming into our family started happening, it was really hard for me,” Meri shared on the episode.

She explained that the situation was difficult to process on more than one level.

“It was a tough thing to wrap my head around on multiple levels just because she had been married to my brother, you know?” she continued. “And so it was definitely a thing for me, for sure.”

Janelle, however, didn’t see it the same way.

“It was such a small period of time,” Janelle said, adding that she felt the marriage “didn’t really matter.”

Janelle’s Church Release Marks a Personal Turning Point

Elsewhere in the episode, Janelle shared another major milestone—receiving a formal religious release from her marriage to Kody through their church, the Apostolic United Brethren.

“I have it,” Janelle said, holding up the release document. “That was easy. I thought I was going to have to come back for a second meeting. I am free. I am free. I am free. I am free.”

The moment, she explained, brought unexpected emotional relief.

“After her meeting with church leaders, Janelle said she didn’t know ‘what I was worried about.’”

“They were all very kind,” she said. “They’d granted me the release. So there was really kind of a shift in my energy, and I think maybe it must have really meant something deep down that I’m sort of not always paying attention to. So I’m glad I did this.”

Looking Back Without Regret

Janelle and Kody officially split in 2022, following Christine Brown’s departure in 2021 and Meri’s separation in 2023. Kody’s only remaining marriage is now with Robyn Brown.

Despite the public unraveling of the family, Janelle remains at peace with the life she built. She shares children Logan, Madison, Hunter, Gabriel, Savanah, and late son Garrison with Kody.

“You know, look, I don’t regret anything in the last 30 years,” Janelle said. “I love the family that we have, and I would do it all again in order to get the family and the kids that we have. [It] just is sort of like that chapter has ended.”

Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.

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