Kody Brown better hold on to his kidneys — because his ex-wife Janelle is telling all!
On Monday, People shared an exclusive interview with the ‘Sister Wives’ star, where she discussed how her children reacted when they found out their father Kody and his wife Robyn Brown wouldn’t be returning to the show after 20 seasons.
“I told the kids because that’s something that definitely they would need to know,” Janelle shared. “The kids were surprised. They really were surprised. But again, most of my children don’t really have a relationship with their father, so it was kind of just news really.”
(For those who have a hard time keeping track of the procreations of Kody, he has 18 children across his four wives. He and Janelle share six children: Logan, Madison, Hunter, Gabriel, Savanah, and their late son Garrison, who passed away in 2024 from suicide.)
Janelle went on to explain that Kody doesn’t maintain a relationship with “most of [her] children and most of Christine [Brown]’s children.” (Kody and Christine also have six children: Aspyn, Mykelti, Paedon, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, and Truely.)
“I think some of them might see him in passing, like if he comes to town, they might go to dinner,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s very often and I don’t think there’s a lot of communication.”
Janelle went on to address her comments about Kody’s parenting in recent episodes of the show, namely when she said Kody was a good dad to his children. When asked if using past tense was intentional, she answered… sort of.
“I don’t know if it was intentional. It was just, I was thinking about how it looks,” she explained. “So, he was a really good dad… Maddie used to say his children were his soulmates because he was about the kids. Above all, that was his thing. And honestly, one of the reasons I stayed in the marriage as long as I did is I was so afraid to disrupt that relationship. I thought if I left, maybe it would mess up that relationship. But it’s so interesting how it just changed. It just changed and it’s been a heartbreaking thing really.”
Janelle– who previously described being married to Kody as “a burden”– said that her children were “all relieved” when she decided to leave Kody in 2022, saying “they could see that it wasn’t a great relationship.”
“They were like, ‘Okay, Mom, finally, it’s time for you to kind of do something for yourself.’ So, they were all really supportive. There [were] no problems. They were like, ‘Okay, good. Well, it’s about time,’ some of them were saying.”
Janelle went on to say that despite their rocky relationships with their father, her children are all “really happy” and keep in contact with their siblings. She mentioned that the kids are involved in each others’ lives and “carry the identity of the family” despite their parents separating.
Janelle also claimed that watching the kids’ bonds with each other has helped repair some of the damage between her, Christine, and Meri Brown.
“I feel like we all recognize that what we did and all the things that we went through and all the ups and downs, it was okay,” she said. “It wasn’t like I want to go back and say I wish we didn’t ever do it, because we succeeded. We succeeded. We have a family and our children are grown. They’ve all grown up. They’re all adjusted adults. They’re all productive members of society and it’s like, ‘Okay, we did okay. They love each other. We did okay.’
“So, no matter how hard that was and no matter that we aren’t even a family really anymore, it was okay,” she added. “It was all worth it.”
Janelle claims she hasn’t spoken to Kody nor Robyn since the family got together to sell the infamous Coyote Pass property in Arizona last season. She revealed that Kody didn’t bother to tell his ex-wives that he and Robyn weren’t returning; instead she found out via email.
“I actually got an email that they weren’t coming back, and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. Okay.’ I haven’t talked to them since…we were all together after we sold the property, and I don’t know anything about what’s going on in their lives. And so yeah, I’m like, ‘Okay, I guess this is what we’re doing now.’”
Janelle said she may have deleted the email because she “didn’t care” all too much about her ex-husband’s actions, but said she just hoped that Kody and Robyn were “going to be okay.” However, she said that without the two of them filming, there was more room for the three ex-wives to thrive individually.
“It felt like the end of an era [when Kody and Robyn quit], but also too, I feel like going forward now, there’s so many beautiful things happening for all of us [who are still filming],” Janelle said. “And I think it’s nice that we can focus on that and not so much [on] all the conversations that were happening because of things that Kody would say.”
When asked if it’s possible that Kody and Robyn could make an appearance on Season 21, she definitively answered, “No, no, no. I think we’re sort of done with that era.”
It’s well-known that many of Kody’s other children, including Leon Brown– Kody’s only child with Meri– and Mykelti— have no relationship with Kody currently. Leon has shared that since coming out as transgender in 2022, their father has not contacted them and reportedly ignored them at their sibling Garrison’s funeral. Mykelti has also opened up about her strained relationship with her dad, saying that even though Kody has allegedly reached out to reconnect with her, she refuses to make amends with him until he works on his relationship with her siblings.
When appearing on “Special Forces,” Kody admitted that he “should have had a stronger relationship with [his] children” and said that he was “the discrepancy” in his family that caused the breakdown in relationships.
“Sister Wives” currently airs Sundays on TLC.
RELATED STORY: ‘Sister Wives’ Star Janelle Brown Predicts She & Boyfriend Pete Lahowin Will Still Be Together in 30 Years: “In Our Rocking Chairs”
(Photos: TLC)
