'Sister Wives' star Janelle Brown wonders if her marriage to Kody is 'viable' as he questions if she's a 'strong enough' woman for him

Advertisement
'Sister Wives' star Janelle Brown wonders if her marriage to Kody is 'viable' as he questions if she's a 'strong enough' woman for him
Kody Brown and Janelle Brown.TLC; TLC
  • Janelle and Kody Brown discussed the state of their marriage on Sunday's episode of "Sister Wives."
  • Janelle said she had "affection" for Kody but wondered if it was "love."
Advertisement

Janelle and Kody Brown finally spoke to each other about the cracks in their marriage on Sunday's episode of "Sister Wives."

While on a dinner date, Kody and Janelle got into a discussion about loyalty that had them each questioning their level of commitment to each other. "I'm trying to determine now if we're viable in the future," Janelle admitted to cameras in a solo interview reflecting on the date.

During their conversation, Kody told his wife, "You and I have been acting like we weren't a married couple for most of our marriage, Janelle."

"You actually live like a single woman," he added.

'Sister Wives' star Janelle Brown wonders if her marriage to Kody is 'viable' as he questions if she's a 'strong enough' woman for him
Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Kody Brown, Christine Brown and Robyn BrownFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Janelle had a very specific explanation for this, telling both Kody and the cameras that plural marriage as she thought she knew it encourages women to be independent.

Advertisement

"I'll ask him and my needs get ignored and everything gets ignored. So, guess what? I decided to be my own hero and I rescued myself and I started doing things for myself," Janelle told the cameras.

But Kody appeared to be interpreting Janelle's behavior as disloyalty, especially because she refused to comply with his strict COVID-19 rules for the family, which viewers saw on season 16.

The catalyst to their conversation was Janelle asking Kody if he would defend her as much as he was defending his fourth wife Robyn Brown if he thought that the family was treating her poorly. This prompted Kody to praise Robyn's loyalty to him.

"All I'm hearing is, 'Robyn is perfect, Robyn is great, Robyn treats me the way I'm supposed to be treated. You need to all of the sudden be this way. We have a small team, everybody's got to conform, and then we're good,'" Janelle told cameras, reflecting on Kody's words.

"That's not what I signed up for," she added.

Advertisement
'Sister Wives' star Janelle Brown wonders if her marriage to Kody is 'viable' as he questions if she's a 'strong enough' woman for him
Janelle Brown, Meri Brown, Kody Brown and Christine Brown from 'Sister Wives' attend a pre-show reception for the grand opening of 'Dancing With the Stars: Live in Las Vegas' at the New Tropicana Las Vegas April 13, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Ethan Miller/Getty Images for AEG Live

"I don't think that it's unreasonable for me to expect that my wife would be loyal to me and that she would be an accountable person," Kody said to cameras.

The couple then admitted to each other that they were at a stage where they had to reassess their marriage. Kody told cameras he felt like he and Janelle were "unraveling."

Janelle — who was previously married to her sister wife Meri Brown's brother in the late '80s, as reported by ScreenRant— said she doesn't give up on marriage easily, and was planning to do "everything" she could to make her marriage to Kody work. She said that she wasn't sure it was "possible to come back from where we are."

"I still have so much affection for Kody. I don't know if it's love," she confessed to the cameras.

'Sister Wives' star Janelle Brown wonders if her marriage to Kody is 'viable' as he questions if she's a 'strong enough' woman for him
Janelle Brown on "Sister Wives."TLC

On the other hand, Kody wondered allowed to cameras if Janelle was "a strong enough woman" to help him mend the broken heart he was feeling after his split from his ex, Christine Brown, which was announced in November 2021.

Advertisement

Janelle and Kody ended their conversation by agreeing that they knew there were problems in their relationship and saying they wanted to have each other's needs in mind more often.

They married in 1993 and have six children together: Logan Brown, 28, Madison Brush, 27, Hunter Brown, 25, Garrison Brown, 24, Gabriel Brown, 21, and Savannah Brown, who will turn 18 on December 7.

"Sister Wives" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.

{{}}