‘Sister Wives’ Rewind: How Kody Brown and Janelle Brown Met

So far, we’ve taken a look at how Kody and his first wife, Meri Brown, met. We’ve discussed how Kody and Robyn Brown’s courtship, too. While the former sister wives once shared a husband, they also shared relatively uncomplicated courtships. We can not say the same for Janelle Brown, who joined the Brown family as Kody Brown’s second wife in 1993. So, how exactly did Kody and Janelle become husband and wife? A mainstream Mormon marriage, a divorce, and a conversion are involved. 

Janelle Brown met Kody Brown through her first husband 

Janelle Brown and Kody Brown were married for almost 30 years when the couple decided to call it quits. The end of their love story was just as unconventional as the beginning of it. Janelle and Kody Brown met when Kody was courting his first wife, Meri Brown. 

In their memoir, Becoming Sister Wives, Janelle explained that she met Kody when Meri started bringing him to family events. She even attended their wedding as a guest. Janelle’s connection to Meri’s family was actually through marriage. She was married to Meri’s brother, Adam Barber, before she became a polygamist. 

Janelle and Adam married in 1989 and were divorced the following year. The short-lived marriage didn’t result in children, and they split their minimal assets evenly. Janelle blamed spiritual incompatibility for the split in the family’s book.  

Janelle and Kody started meeting up as friends before deciding to court 

Janelle’s marriage to Adam was short-lived, but she continued spending time with Adam’s family. She was particularly taken with Kody; Janelle revealed that she felt connected to him as soon as he met him. While Kody and Meri were still newlyweds, Kody and Janelle began meeting as friends. 

Kody said they would meet for lunch to discuss life and dating. Eventually, Kody claims, he told Janelle that she might want to consider joining his family. Apparently, that’s all it took. The couple became romantic not long after. 

The couple had exactly one date before getting married 

Kody and Janelle knew each other for years before deciding to make things romantic. While they met regularly as friends, things moved at warp speed when they decided to get romantic. The couple revealed that they had exactly one romantic date before they decided to get married. 

Janelle and Kody married in a spiritual ceremony in January 1993, less than three years after Kody and Meri tied the knot. While Janelle insists she was drawn to polygamy, she acknowledges that it hasn’t always been easy. Her early marriage was so trying that she moved away from her sister wives at one point. She has now opted to separate from Kody entirely. While Janelle and Kody are separated, she has yet to use the word “divorce.” Janelle has conceded that most of her marriage was difficult, though.