Janelle Brown‘s relationship with Kody Brown is still on the rocks in Us Weekly‘s exclusive Sister Wives sneak peek — but she doesn’t want to give up on plural marriage as a whole.
In a clip from the Sunday, September 10, episode, Janelle confesses she still believes in the benefits of polygamy. “I’ve had to really think about plural marriage,” the 54-year-old tells the camera. “I still believe it can be lived and that there’s a purpose for it. Despite the fact that Kody and I are having problems, I do think I could live plural marriage again.”
While she wouldn’t rule out being part of another polygamous family, Janelle admits that it might be hard to come by. “I don’t know if there’s really an opportunity for me to live it again,” she adds. “I mean, it’s kind of a strange thing. You don’t really go around finding people who are living plural marriage.”
Kody, also 54, shares a different perspective in a confessional interview of his own. “Five years ago, I was fighting to keep it together,” he says. “What has happened to me that has caused me to … feel relief when a woman’s saying, ‘I’m leaving.'”
Kody entered a spiritual marriage with Janelle 1993. She joined Meri Brown, then Kody’s lawfully wedded wife. However, the twosome decided to divorce in 2014 in order for Kody to legally adopt fourth wife Robyn Brown‘s children from a previous relationship. Kody and Meri, 52, continued their spiritual romance until 2022. (Kody was also married to Christine Brown from 1994 to 2021.)
Janelle announced during the Sister Wives: One-on-One special in late 2022 that she and Kody had been “separated for months.” TLC viewers watched their relationship hit a breaking point in an intense screaming match earlier this month, during which Janelle accused her now-ex of no longer being committed to his role as a plural marriage.
In Us‘ sneak peek of Sunday’s episode, Meri, Christine, 51, and Robyn, 44, also share their thoughts about polygamy as the blended family adapts to its new dynamic.
“In my head, this is still something that can work,” Robyn says. “You have to have people who are interested.”
Christine, for her part, notes that “there are full-functioning plural families out there,” adding that the key to success is to “always work together.”
Meri, meanwhile, is less optimistic. “I don’t think that the fact that our family has fallen apart like it has is because of polygamy. I think it’s because of personalities,” she tells the camera. “I think that [Kody] regrets marrying Christine. I don’t know where he is with Janelle, but I do believe 100 percent that he regrets marrying me.”
Sister Wives season 18 airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
