‘Sister Wives’: How Long Were Kody and Janelle Brown Separated Before They Announced the End of Their Marriage?
Sister Wives fans are watching Janelle Brown and Kody Brown’s relationship implode in season 18 of the controversial reality TV show. While Janelle and Kody publicly called it quits on their marriage in December 2022, season 18 suggests the couple were on the outs long before they made a public announcement. So when, exactly, did Kody and Janelle end their spiritual union?
Janelle Brown announced her separation in December 2022
Janelle Brown was the second of Kody Brown’s four wives to call an end to her plural marriage. The mother of six announced she and Kody had officially separated in December 2022. The announcement was made during the season 17 tell-all episodes of the infamous reality TV show.
Unlike Christine Brown, Janelle has never called the end of her marriage a divorce. Janelle once explained that, according to religious dogma, a spiritual marriage does not end until the wife moves on to a new partner. By all accounts, Janelle has not found a new love interest. She has not openly discussed an interest in marrying again.
Before her spiritual marriage to Kody in 1993, Janelle was legally married to Adam Barber. The couple married young but ended their marriage after just a couple of years. Janelle’s first husband is what eventually led her to Kody Brown. Adam Barber is Meri Brown’s brother. Before becoming sister wives, Janelle and Meri were sisters-in-law. They have no relationship at this time.
Kody Brown never actually announced the end of his second marriage
While Janelle made the shocking announcement during the season 17 Sister Wives tell-all episode, Kody largely skated over the issues. While he’s acknowledged that he and Janelle are no longer together, he did not make a public statement about it. At least, he didn’t do so in the same way he did when his marriages to Christine Brown and Meri Brown ended.
When Christine announced the end of her marriage to Kody in November 2021, months after she left Flagstaff, Arizona, Kody issued a statement, too. In January 2023, when Meri announced she and Kody had permanently ended their relationship, he copied her message and posted it to his Instagram account. No such announcement was made regarding the end of his union with Janelle.
When did Kody and Janelle Brown actually break up?
While Janelle did not announce the end of her relationship with Kody Brown until the Sister Wives season 17 tell-all episode in December 2022, the separation happened much earlier. In a recent episode of season 18, Kody and Janelle had a blowout argument. It appears to have been the beginning of the end for the couple. The episode covers the 2021 holiday season.
In a sneak peek for an upcoming episode, a downtrodden Janelle notes that she feels stuck in a plural marriage. While she was still attached due to finances, the marriage no longer served her. While she doesn’t specifically state that the marriage is over, it’s clearly coming to a close very quickly. Based on the information we have, it is safe to assume that Kody and Janelle were no longer a couple by early 2022. That would have been about a year before Janelle officially broke the news to the world.
It has been about 18 months since that footage for season 18 of Sister Wives was filmed. Since then, Janelle has seemingly picked herself up and found a way to move on. While she still resides in Flagstaff, Arizona, she is no longer with Kody and appears to have limited interactions with him. She looks happier than ever, and Sister Wives fans are thrilled to see it.
