Janelle Brown was caught off guard by Kody Brown and Robyn Brown’s departure from Sister Wives. The news emerged less than a month after season 21 of the TLC series began without the couple, and Janelle said she learned about it through an email.
“I actually got an email that they weren’t coming back,” Janelle told People in an interview published Nov. 2. She added that she has not spoken with Kody or Robyn since the family sold its property and said she does not know what is happening in their lives.
Janelle, who shares six children with Kody, separated from him in December 2022. Although she described the departure as unexpected, she said it could allow her, Christine Brown and Meri Brown to focus on the next stage of their lives rather than on disputes surrounding Kody’s comments.
“It’s felt like the end of an era,” Janelle said, while also pointing to the positive developments happening for the former sister wives.
She added that her children were also surprised by the news. However, Janelle said most of them have little or no relationship with their father, so the announcement was largely just information for them.
Christine and Meri discussed the couple’s departure during the season 21 premiere, which aired Oct. 4. Christine said she did not know how to process the situation or what it meant, while Meri described herself as surprised.
Kody and Robyn, who legally married in 2014, did not give a reason for leaving the show. Their departure follows Kody’s separations from Christine in 2021, Janelle in 2022 and Meri in 2023. During a January episode, Kody said he and Robyn had been dealing with the family’s breakup for at least four years.
Robyn also said their marriage could be volatile, explaining that Kody sometimes reverted to what she called an “angry divorced guy.”
Sources: E! News.