‘Sister Wives’: Kody Brown’s Shortest and Longest Courtships
Kody Brown has spent the last several seasons of Sister Wives seemingly confused by the state of his marriages. Kody bemoaned polygamy’s difficulties and even suggested he didn’t “know” some of his wives when he married them. Kody’s shock and astonishment might have something to do with the length of his courtships. Kody and his four wives practically raced down the aisle. Can you guess which courtship was the shortest and which was the longest?
Kody Brown asked his first wife to marry him when she was still a teenager
Kody Brown and his first wife, Meri Brown, might be estranged now, but in the 1990s, they were a couple in love. At least, that’s what they said in their book, Becoming Sister Wives. The couple dated for just two months before Kody popped the question. They married in April 1990.
Meri and Kody’s entire courtship lasted a grand total of six months, from meeting to exchanging rings. Meri and Kody were rather young at the time, too. She was just 19, and he was 21.
Kody and Janelle Brown had the shortest courtship
Janelle Brown joined the family in 1993. While Kody and Meri had agreed on adding more wives to their family before they tied the knot, the addition of Janelle was pretty rough. Not only was Janelle Meri’s former sister-in-law, but Kody and Janelle gave Meri almost no time to get used to the idea of a new wife joining the family.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Kody and Janelle were friendly before deciding to court. The couple went on exactly one date and were married two weeks later. The strife between Meri and Janelle seemingly started even before Kody and Janelle exchanged their vows. According to several sources, Janelle and Kody originally wanted to get married on Meri’s birthday. They opted to get married the following day at the insistence of Kody’s mother.
Christine Brown’s early romance was anything but romantic
Christine Brown, the family’s third wife, and Kody Brown also had a quick courtship, although the couple had known each other for a while when they started dating. In several interviews, Christine noted that she had a crush on Kody and liked the idea of joining his family as a third wife. He wasn’t initially interested, opting to court one of Christine’s friends instead. When that relationship ended, Kody decided to get to know Christine.
Raised in a prominent polygamist family, Christine wanted to follow all the rules. She noted that she wasn’t comfortable dating a “married man,” so their courtship was short. They dated for just six weeks before saying, “I do.”
Christine ended her 27-year marriage to Kody Brown in 2021. The mother of six had spent years feeling unloved and left out. Since her divorce, she’s moved from Flagstaff, Arizona, to Utah and landed a solo cooking show on TLC.
Kody and his legal wife, Robyn Brown, spent the most time getting to know each other
Whether or not Kody has a “whole” marriage with any wife but Robyn Brown is up for debate. Sister Wives fans largely believe that Robyn and Kody are monogamous. They sure appear to be the only couple who still actively enjoy each other, and that might have to do with the fact that they had the longest courtship.
Robyn had been married before and had three children when she met Kody. Their courtship lasted six months before Kody popped the question, which was significantly longer than Kody’s previous courtships. The couple held a spiritual ceremony in 2010. A few years later, Meri and Kody dissolved their legal marriage so Kody could legally marry Robyn. Sister Wives fans point to the divorce as the beginning of the end for much of the Brown family.
