Sister Wives star Janelle Brown and Meri Brown admit that they’re not very close, which fans surmised from their behavior on the TLC series.
While wife number two won’t let anyone get the best of her today, there was once a time when the first wife put her in a place of doom and gloom — as Janelle recently spilled about Meri.
Sister Wives: Janelle Brown Paid Her Dues
Janelle Brown married Kody Brown as his second wife in this plural marriage. So for the first couple of years of this polygamous marriage, Meri Brown was her only co-wife.
Janelle talked about this in a book that she and the Sister Wives adults penned together a few years back. The first wife was just not nice to her — or at least that’s the way Janelle sees it.
So, this is from Janelle’s perspective as one of the Sister Wives back then. And it doesn’t sound as if Kody was any better in his treatment.
When Janelle joined the legally married couple (Kody and Meri) to start the Sister Wives plural family, Meri didn’t seem to share very well. She not only marked her territory when it came to their shared house, but she monopolized their shared husband as well.
One example that Janelle shared was about a typical evening at home. Sister Wives matriarch Meri would cuddle with their shared hubby to watch TV.
So, the new wife at the time, sat alone. But Janelle said that most of the time that she was home, she stayed closed off in her room. This doesn’t sound like a great start to a successful polygamous marriage.
Meri Brown Left Emotional Scar – Janelle Calls it “Exceptionally Brutal”
Janelle Brown said that for every bit of housework she did, Meri found fault. As the second bride back then, she was also not allowed to touch Meri’s laundry. And that’s despite wife #1 leaving it in the dryer long after it was done so wife #2 couldn’t use it.
But one event, in particular, crushed the new bride, according to their non-fiction bestseller about the family. Growing up, Janelle struggled with her body image. So, the Sister Wives spouse was a bit self-conscious.
This horrific event she talks about sounds like it left a scar that Janelle carried for a long time. As she tells it, Kody left town for work and was gone as long as a week at a time. That was for his advertising job when he sold billboard space.
He would often take his first wife with him, leaving Janelle behind and home alone. But when Kody Brown landed a new job at a logging camp, this entailed more out-of-town travel. And, once again, he asked Meri to go with him.
Right before they left, a pregnant Janelle experimented with some new makeup. Perhaps she was trying to look good for Kody at the time. But because they were leaving her home alone again, she started to cry. Of course, her makeup ran down her face.
And Janelle Brown says Meri was “exceptionally brutal”. She ridiculed Janelle’s makeup while making snide remarks to her. Family members and friends all witnessed it. They watched as Kody took off with his first wife and left Janelle behind, even while pregnant.
Sister Wives: Meri Treated Wife 2 Like a Guest Overstaying Their Welcome
Years later, Janelle Brown described becoming a second wife with Meri at the helm. She said they put her in the guestroom of their small mobile home. And she said Meri treated her like a guest who outstayed her welcome.
Then, when she found out she was carrying Kody Brown’s first child, Janelle was elated. Back then, Meri was also trying for a baby and had been for a few years.
So, Janelle Brown wasn’t sure how her Sister Wives co-wife take the news. She shares that Meri Brown was mean to her during this time. So, Kody’s second wife writes, “However, I have to say I didn’t care how she felt about my news.”
Being the first one to give Kody a baby helped to ground Janelle, she said. It made her feel like an important part of this Sister Wives’ family after feeling like an outcast.
So, her pregnancy and birth of their son Logan Brown gave her so many things. Kody was ecstatic that his first child was on the way. The photo in the post above falls into the timeline that this happened.
The Tables Turn…
It sounds like Janelle Brown wouldn’t let anyone get her down at this point. So, despite her pregnancy making her tired, those days of Meri bringing gloom to her life seemed over.
It was the expectant mom who changed, she had more important things to deal with to let Meri bring her down anymore. So, it looks like the second wife cut Meri Brown out of her life.
But it wasn’t due to any single incident. Instead, it seems as if their foundation as co-wives crumbled a long time ago. As Janelle Brown writes in the book, she felt that she and Meri Brown only tolerated each other as Kody Brown’s co-wives.
