A Complete Timeline Of Kody Brown's Relationships With All Of His Wives

TLC loves a show about an interesting family. Some of the network's biggest hits over the years have included "19 Kids and Counting," a series about a large fundamentalist Christian family; "Jon & Kate Plus 8," which followed a couple who had twins and then sextuplets; and "Alaskan Bush People," a show that digs into the lives of a family who live in the wilds of Alaska completely cut off from modern-day society. So it's no surprise that "Sister Wives," a series about a polygamous family who belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren sect of the Mormon church, was an instant hit when it joined the lineup.

Since 2010, "Sister Wives" has followed Kody Brown and wives Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown as they navigate the ups and downs of marriage, parenthood, and female friendships. Like all good reality TV shows, there's lots of drama and tons of messy storylines — just to give you an idea, at the start of the series the family was cohabitating in a massive house in Utah, and now some members don't speak. But given the family's unique makeup it can be difficult for even the most devoted fans to keep the Browns' history straight. To make it easier for you, we've broken down a complete timeline of Kody Brown's relationships with all of his wives. From pre-show weddings to potential separations, we're here to help you understand this unique family once and for all.

It was Meri Brown who introduced Kody Brown to his second wife, Janelle Brown. The two women had been friends for some time, so it was natural for Meri to bring her new man around to get her girlfriends' approval. What was a little less natural was Janelle's response to her friend's boyfriend. She wrote on the official "Sister Wives" web page (via ABC News), "I looked at him and had that feeling of remembering something I had forgotten. It was a singular experience." To her credit, Janelle didn't act on her feelings right away (in part because she was already married— more on that in a minute), as she wrote, "It didn't occur to me when I met Kody to think of him in any other way than as Meri's fiance. I even attended Meri and Kody's wedding reception."

But eventually, things shifted a little bit. In a behind-the-scenes interview for TLC, Kody recounted how he and Janelle "got closer, and closer, and closer" as friends, and eventually, after having a single, seemingly out of the blue, conversation about Janelle joining the family, they tied the knot. Both Kody and Janelle admit that their relationship wasn't romantic at first, as indicated by the fact that they never actually had an official courtship, but that being in love was something they had to work at.

For some polygamous members of the Apostolic United Brethren sect, the marriage and family feel complete once there are two wives in the household. But not for the Browns. Despite having two wives, Kody Brown was open to adding another into the mix. Enter Christine Brown.

When Kody first crossed paths with Christine, she was 18 years old and he was helping to lead the youth group at their church. In their book "Becoming Sister Wives," Kody shared that he was immediately attracted to Christine upon meeting her, describing how he was "awed with how adorable and upbeat she was." He also noted that he and Meri weren't ready to bring in another wife just yet (at that point, Kody wasn't yet courting or married to Janelle, either).

After a few years of getting to know each other, as friends, Kody was ready to begin a relationship with Christine. As he recounted in the book, he sent her flowers with a note that said, "Let's get the ball rolling." Apparently, that was romance enough for Christine, who invited him to visit that weekend and accepted his proposal a mere 48 hours later. Less than two months later, they were officially husband and wife. Although their big day should have been a joyous occasion, Kody described it as "hard" in an interview on "Sister Wives," and Christine agreed that it was "sad" because they weren't "connected" and because of the "stigma" surrounding polygamous culture in general.

In 2009, Kody Brown met and fell for a woman named Robyn Sullivan. Kody and Robyn were introduced by her cousin, who attended the same church as the Browns. Initially, neither party was seriously interested; Robyn had just finalized a difficult divorce from her first husband, and Kody was apprehensive about courting a divorced, single mom because, as he said in a TLC interview, he "didn't want to have to work really hard in the relationship." However, they both felt an undeniable chemistry, so they decided to take things slow and get to know each other a little better. Although slow in Kody's world is a relative term: As Kody shared in "Becoming Sister Wives," he told Robyn he loved her on their first date.

This is where things stood in the Brown household when the family began taping the first season of "Sister Wives." Kody was courting Robyn, who lived about four hours away from the Browns, and Meri, Janelle, and Christine were trying to come to terms with the fact that a new wife joining the crew seemed inevitable. The first three wives had various reactions to Robyn's arrival: In "Becoming Sister Wives" Kody claimed Meri was totally on board, but on the TLC series Janelle fretted about how it "changes everything" and Christine admitted she was "kinda more hesitant about adding another wife."

Very shortly after Kody Brown's divorce from his first wife, Meri Brown, was finalized, he legally tied the knot with Robyn Brown. The couple's 2014 wedding wasn't aired on their TLC series due to religious reasons, but clips of the reception — an outdoor affair with dozens of Kody and Robyn's closest friends and family members in attendance — made the cut in the Season 1 finale. In the episode, Kody described the couple's wedding day as a "coming out party" saying, "this one event was where most people were going to meet us as we were — polygamous — in a setting where we were abiding as an entire family."

In another episode of "Sister Wives," Kody explained that wedding days for polygamous grooms "aren't necessarily easy." He continued on to say that balancing the feelings and emotions of multiple wives on a big day like that is "such a challenging... act," and that having all of one's other wives in attendance makes it "almost impossible to feel an intimate relationship with your new bride." Robyn seemingly agreed with Kody's remarks, admitting that while she found their wedding day celebratory she did miss her groom. Maybe it's just us, but that's not the energy we want surrounding us on our big day.

Given the status of Meri Brown and Kody Brown's relationship, fans have long believed that she would be the first wife to end the marriage. But it turns out Christine Brown would actually be the first sister wife to (publicly) call time on the relationship. In November 2021, she posted a message to her Instagram feed that read, in part, "After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave."

In a Cameo video sent to a fan (via People), Christine admitted that the divorce had been "a long time coming" and that she "felt like a much better person" post-separation than she ever had before. Regular viewers of the series aren't likely to be surprised by Christine's admission; in a 2021 episode of "Sister Wives" she confessed, "I never wanted the kind of marriage I have now. ... My marriage to Kody is sad." That wasn't the only time she'd dropped a hint that there was trouble in paradise, either. Speaking to Us Weekly in early 2021, she said she didn't often feel "important" or that she "had a say" in the familial relationship, commenting that she doesn't "feel like an equal partner" in her relationship.

While things may be officially over between Kody and Christine, it remains to be seen what will happen to the relationships between Christine and the other wives, and whether or not Christine will return for Season 17 of the family's series.