- Janelle Brown says she was briefly married to Meri Brown’s brother before marrying Kody Brown.
- She says the short marriage lasted less than a year and “didn’t really matter” to her.
- Meri Brown says Janelle being her former sister-in-law made joining a polyamorous relationship with Kody difficult.
- Fans reacted strongly after TLC shared a clip of the conversation on Instagram.
Janelle admits brief marriage to Meri’s brother
Sister Wives star Janelle Brown revealed on a recent episode of TLC’s show that she was married to Meri Brown’s brother in the years before joining Kody Brown as a sister wife. Janelle said she met Meri’s brother in high school, married shortly after graduation and that the marriage lasted “less than a year.”
Janelle described the union as a small, short-lived period of her life. “It was such a small period of time, it almost was like, it didn’t really matter,” she told cameras.
Meri says the history complicated the transition
Meri Brown acknowledged the history made it “really hard” when the idea of Janelle joining her and Kody as part of a polyamorous relationship began. She said it was “a tough thing to wrap my head around on multiple levels,” particularly because Janelle had been married to her brother and had even attended Meri’s wedding with him.
“It was definitely a thing for me, for sure,” Meri said, while Janelle noted she personally did not feel the same way.
Tensions that followed
After Janelle married Kody, the household experienced ongoing friction. Both Meri and Janelle, alongside ex-wife Christine Brown, later pursued spiritual divorces from Kody. The show’s recent seasons have documented the breakdowns within the family and Kody’s shrinking number of active relationships — now primarily with wife Robyn Brown.
Fans react to the revelation
TLC shared a clip of the conversation on its official Instagram account, prompting strong viewer responses. Comments pointed to the former in-law relationship as a possible reason for the couple’s eventual rifts. Selected reactions included:
- “Now I understand why they didn’t get along. She went from being Meri’s sister in law to sharing her husband. That’s not normal.”
- “JANELLE! YOU WERE MARRIED. IT MATTERS.”
- “It mattered to Meri, so it matters… plus I’m sure it was hard for Meri giving up her husband to another woman.”
View the clip shared by TLC on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTDzqdjlEFA/?utmsource=igembed&utm_campaign=loading
What this moment means for the show
The exchange provides context for long-running tensions among the Brown family and highlights personal history that viewers had not fully seen on-screen. Janelle’s framing of her early marriage as brief contrasts with Meri’s lasting emotional response, underscoring how past relationships can affect polyamorous family dynamics featured on reality TV.
The episode adds another layer to the ongoing narrative of Sister Wives as cast members reassess their relationships and the impact of past ties on present conflicts.
Image Referance: https://www.the-express.com/entertainment/tv/195081/meri-brown-sister-wives-tlc
