Janelle Brown got real about how her youngest sons, Garrison and Gabriel, have changed since falling out with their dad, Kody Brown.
“I have worried about my boys’ mental health,” Janelle, 54, shared in the Sunday, October 8, episode of Sister Wives. “Gabriel feels everything very, very deeply. But he’s also the kid who doesn’t say anything. And Garrison just seems angry or sadder, like, he’s not as happy, go lucky as he used to be.”
Janelle shares Garrison, 25, and Gabriel, 21, as well as Logan, 29, Maddie, 27, Hunter, 26, and Savanah, 18, with her estranged husband, 54. Before Janelle announced in December 2022 that she and Kody had separated, viewers saw their family’s dynamic shift.
Last season, Janelle and Kody butted heads over Kody’s reaction to Garrison and Gabriel allegedly not respecting Kody’s COVID rules. The continual arguments — and the boys’ alleged choice not to apologize to their father — resulted in Janelle and her kids celebrating the holidays without Kody.
“Me and Garrison are at odds with my dad, because when we expressed our discontent at how things were going with COVID, I was met with just a wall,” Gabriel said on Sunday’s episode, which was taped in early 2022. “Like and there was no line of dialogue. I think that that is what really drove the wedge between us.”
Christine Brown — who announced her split from Kody in November 2021 — weighed in on the turmoil between Janelle’s kids and Kody during the show.
“My kids are more used to Kody not being in their life. He just wasn’t around as much,” Christine, 51, said during a confessional. “But he has been around Janelle’s kids. For them, this is just a lot more devastating than it has been for my kids.”
Christine, who shares son Paedon, 25, and daughters Aspyn, 28, Mykelti, 27, Gwendlyn, 21, Ysabel, 20, and Truely, 13, with Kody, was the first of the Brown wives to leave the patriarch. Janelle was second and Meri Brown, who is Kody’s first wife, confirmed in January that she and Kody had ended their romantic relationship. Kody is still married to Robyn Brown.
Despite her own ups and downs with Kody, Janelle revealed on Sunday’s episode that she briefly entertained the idea of giving their relationship another chance. However, after going out with Kody for her birthday in May — which was filmed for this episode — she felt differently.
“At one point I slipped my hand into his out of habit and I thought, ‘This feels really weird’ and I took my hand back out of his hand,” Janelle told the cameras. “It just didn’t feel right anymore.”
Kody, for his part, confessed that he didn’t understand what he and Janelle couldn’t get back together, noting that they had separated in the past but found a way back. “I’ve been in love with her before, so, I can be in love with her again. I just feel like we need to reestablish trust,” Kody explained.
Janelle, however, revealed that she didn’t see a way to mend their relationship. “You know, there just isn’t anything there anymore there. There just isn’t. Our relationship has been unraveling for years,” she concluded.
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
