Years after stepping away from their family’s reality series, Leon Brown– the only child of former spouses Kody and Meri Brown– is ready to open up about what it was like growing up in a “polygamist cult” and being raised on TV.
As fans of Sister Wives know, Leon (who came out as transgender and queer in June 2022 and uses they/them pronouns) has, like many of the OG Brown kids, (mostly) steered clear of their family’s TLC series in recent years, despite maintaining a close relationship with many of their siblings and even attending the wedding of their dad’s ex-wife Christine Brown to husband David Woolley in 2023.
While it was widely reported (and never refuted) in 2023 that Kody was very against Leon’s transition, Meri and Leon have maintained a good relationship with each other, with Meri telling fans in 2024 that she doesn’t speak about Leon very often because they don’t want to be “super public.”
In a video posted to TikTok this week, Leon hinted at their past wishes to stay out of the public, while explaining why they feel it’s time for them to share their story in their own words.
“Hi, my name is Leon, I use they/them pronouns,” Leon began. “If you don’t know who I am– which would be really cool– I was raised on TV. I grew up in a cult, a polygamist cult, and when I was 14, my parents started filming a TV show on a very popular network.
“ … I haven’t really ever talked about my own story publicly before, and that feels increasingly inauthentic,” they continued. “I think it’s time that I start talking about it. I love stories, I’m a storyteller, I’m a story listener, stories really enrich my life and have helped me really find parts of myself that I need. And I think it’s probably time I start sharing my own story.”
Leon, who secret wed their partner Audrey Kriss (who is also transgender) in 2022, went on to tell fans this week that while they weren’t ready to share their story in the past, they’re “making a decision” to start doing so, noting that it may help others and even themself.
“ … I haven’t felt like I could share [my story] and I think that more just had to do with, like, being ready,” Leon explained. “But ready is a decision and I’m making a decision to start sharing my story because, f**k, I don’t know, I hope it helps someone. F**k, I hope it helps me. As we live in this really scary world, frankly, and especially as genocide continues to happen, I don’t know, I’m just finding it really important to share my story.”
As their video continued, Leon took a moment to “make it very clear” to their followers that they are “a very proud queer, trans person,” before going on to give fans an idea of what they will be opening up about as they begin telling their story.
“I’ve tried to share my story without sharing this really specific part of it and I’m noticing that, like, I can’t,” Leon said. “This is my foundation. This was my childhood, this was my formative years. I think to tell my story at all, I have to tell this. So, you can leave questions if you want. I don’t know if I’ll answer them, but follow along for the ride. We’ll see what happens.”
Leon’s post was met with many supportive comments, including one from their mom, who wrote, “insanely proud of you!”
As The Ashley reported in February, Leon’s sister Mykelti Brown– daughter of Kody and Christine– stated on an episode of The Sarah Fraser Show that it was unlikely that fans would see Leon return to ‘Sister Wives’ in the future.
“I think that if Leon was going to [film] it would have to be a completely separate show,” Mykelti said. “There’s just so much, like, negative angst and hard crap around ‘Sister Wives.’ But if there was, like, a spinoff version of it, like, ‘The Brown Kids’ hindsight or after the fact or whatever, for sure I think Leon would come back. But Leon wouldn’t come back on ‘Sister Wives.’”
(While Mykelti commented on the future of ‘Sister Wives’ in February, a premiere date for Season 21 has yet to be announced.)
While Leon is unlikely to return to ‘Sister Wives,’ it seems that they are even more unlikely to mend the fractured relationship they have with their father.
Back in November, Leon took to social media to slam Kody for publicly claiming that he’d been “reaching out” to his kids in an effort to mend his many estranged relationships. In an Instagram Story, Leon revealed that Kody had not reached out (to them, at least) and had even refused to acknowledge Leon in 2024 at the funeral of Garrison Brown, son of Kody and ex-wife Janelle Brown.
“There’s a ridiculous video of my father circulating where he says he reaches out to his children– let me be so f**king clear: I have not heard from that man since my brother killed himself,” Leon wrote. “Kody blatantly blew me off at Garrison’s funeral. He is a liar. He is a joke of a father. That’s all.”
Watch Leon’s TikTok below.
@leointhemtns i listened to tyler glenn’s excommunication this morning and this is what it got me. doing this for the younger parts of me who couldn’t. there’s… a lot. and i’m done being quiet about it anymore. #realitytv #polygamy #cult
(Photos: TikTok; TLC; Instagram)
3 Responses
AKA They need the $$$$$$$
Running out of money?
From one cult to another..