Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Recalls 'Short-Lived' Marriage to Meri's Brother Before Marrying Kody: 'It Just Didn't Take'

Janelle Brown reflects on her marriage to Mera’s brother Adam Barber.

During the performance at Reality Life with Kate Casey podcast, Janelle, 55, recalled that their marriage was “very, very short-lived.”

She noted that the relationship “really qualifies” as an initial marriage, adding: “I think we may have lived together physically, actually lived together for about six months. It just wasn’t necessary.”

From left: Meri Brown and Janelle Brown.

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When asked if it was awkward meeting Kody, who was already married to her ex-husband’s sister Meri, the TLC star replied, “I didn’t cross paths with him. I wasn’t at Mera’s house the whole time.”

“I mean, I’ve been there on occasion. I happened to be there when Kody came. And I was already intrigued by faith,” she added.

After splitting from Barber in 1990 after two years of marriage, Janelle married Kody in 1993, becoming his second wife in their multiple marriage. Later, the wife’s sisters Christine and Robyn joined.

From left: Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, Kody Brown, Meri Brown and Robyn Brown in 2010.

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In June, Meri opened up about fan reactions to Janelle’s first marriage to Barber during an appearance on Miss Understood With Rachel Uchitel podcast.

“I think it’s very strange that there are a lot of people out there, and the community is not that small,” explained Meri at the time of their shared hometown. “So it’s kind of weird that it all happened that way.”

“It took me a minute to wrap my head around it,” she added of Janelle’s marriage to Kody. “The whole thing was interesting. There was emotion. Let’s just say, there was emotion.”

From left: Mary Brown; Kody Brown; Janelle Brown.

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Despite her feelings about the situation, she shared that they were able to “get through it” as a family.

The unraveling of their polygamous marriage began when Christine and Janelle ended their relationship with Kody within a year of each other. Meri and Kody later confirmed that they were separating in January 2023. He remained married only to his fourth wife, Robyn.

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Sister wives airs Sundays at 10pm ET/PT on TLC.

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Source: HIS Education