When it comes to putting in the work to salvage a relationship, Janelle Brown isn’t sure Kody Brown is worth it.
This season on Sister Wives, not only are we watching the aftermath of Christine and Kody’s divorce unfold, but we’re also getting to see Kody’s marriage to Janelle begin to crumble apart.
In a preview clip from the Sunday, August 27, episode of Sister Wives, Christine Brown returns to Flagstaff after moving to Utah and pays a visit to Janelle’s new apartment.
Janelle opens up to Christine about the problems in her and Kody’s marriage, which she says began after most of their kids moved out of the house.
Admittedly, Janelle doesn’t know what to do because Kody is dead-set on getting respect from their kids, who don’t feel they owe their father anything.
During a solo confessional, Janelle tells TLC’s cameras, “I’m not gonna sit here and put together this relationship post-children leaving when there’s not a whole lot in common, and I don’t even know who this guy is anymore. Like, I just don’t see that it’s really worth the work.”
Janelle Brown says Kody and Robyn are using the family’s issues as an excuse to keep everybody apart
Janelle also claims that Kody and Robyn’s “new drum” is that the family can’t get together until they sort out their issues, while their previous excuse was keeping the family separate to avoid spreading COVID-19.
“It’s the new excuse to keep everybody apart,” Janelle declares.
Janelle continues to open up to Christine about the anger Kody is harboring, something she fears will deter him from putting in the work on his part.
“He’s getting angrier and angrier, he’s getting sharper and sharper, and more black-and-white with me,” Janelle tells Christine, noting that Kody just can’t let go of demanding respect from his and Janelle’s kids.
“[Kody keeps talking] about ‘these kids need to respect me,'” Janelle shares.
Despite their distance and disagreements, at the time, Janelle and Kody weren’t yet talking about walking away from their marriage.
Kody’s relationship with his sons Garrison and Gabriel was broken due to his COVID-19 protocols
As Sister Wives fans know, Janelle finally had enough of Kody’s antics and headed for the hills in 2022, taking a page out of Christine’s book from 2021. Janelle and Kody announced their separation during the Sister Wives Season 17 Tell All.
We also know that Kody and Janelle’s sons, Garrison and Gabriel, were the source of Kody’s hissy fit about respect. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Garrison and Gabriel continued to work outside the home and carry on with their social lives, which was adamantly against their dad’s rules.
Kody saw this as a form of disrespect on their part, and it fundamentally broke their father-son bonds. Gabriel accused Kody of “literally ruining” the family with his ridiculous COVID-19 rules, and at one point, Kody even suggested that Janelle kick Garrison out of her home for disobeying him.
Kody admitted during Season 16 of Sister Wives that he wasn’t speaking to Garrison and Gabriel
During the Season 16 Tell All, Kody admitted that his relationship with Gabriel and Garrison was “not good” and that they weren’t on speaking terms.
“It’s like one of those relationships where we gotta do a lot of work,” Kody told Tell All host Sukanya Krishnan.
“We need therapy,” Kody added. “Yeah, I need to sit down with my boys and get something straight because I, um, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m so angry about what happened – we’re not communicating – and I think they are too.”
Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.