Following an explosive fight during the holidays, Janelle seems ready to move on from her ex.
Janelle Brown is ready to move forward in her life post-Kody Brown. On Sunday's episode of Sister Wives, the mother of six met up with Christine Brown, Kody's ex, to discuss her new outlook on the status of her estranged marriage with Kody.
Janelle tells Christine that she met with the family counselor, Nancy, and has determined that she and Kody are done.
"I'm growing and I need something different. And that's hard. I'm still reconciling that little bit," Janelle says. "I don't want to be married anymore."
Christine seems shocked by this comment from Janelle, explaining, "This is one of the first times I've heard Janelle talking about what she has with Kody isn't enough. I just don't think he's capable of more."
Janelle admits that she doesn't see a future with Kody, saying, "I'm struggling because I still have so much affection for him, but I need something different as far as a marriage goes. It's OK to grow. It's OK to change. And sometimes your partner comes along and sometimes they don't."
With most of her and Kody's children grown and moved out, Janelle doesn't see a way for her and her estranged husband to reconcile.
"I can't think of any reason that I would want him to come back at this point. I just don't know because I'm just waiting on God to tell me if what I'm doing is OK," Janelle admits, noting that her religion frowns upon ending a marriage. "I haven't had any kind of inspiration to that regard yet."
Kody claims that he calls his ex regularly to try to work things out, but that she doesn't seem to want to try.
"She's not interested in a relationship with Robyn. She's not interested in a relationship with Meri. Certainly not Meri, I guess. And how does that work for me?" the polygamist asks.
Kody says that though he doesn't think their relationship is hopeless, he also doesn't know what he has to offer her.
It's not looking good for Kody as Janelle admits that after their explosive holiday fight, she was driving around and "felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders."
Kody's response to the separation?
"I think it's a mistake, but whatever."
Christine and Janelle also agree that Kody has "changed."
"He's not the same person," Christine claims, saying her ex is no longer "courageous" and adding, "I couldn't be in love with who he is. I'm so not attracted to anyone like that."
Even Robyn Brown and Meri Brown agree.
"He's been very, very, very angry," Robyn says of her husband.
"I don't know how you do it. Because he's not who you married. Not who I married," Meri tells her.
But Kody disagrees with this analysis, saying, "I don't think that I'm the only one that changed here… We have all changed."
Meri admits to feeling "sad" for Kody, but adds that she doesn't think her estranged husband is actually mourning the loss of the big family the way Robyn claims.
"If he was, he would work more at it," she says, pointing to her own relationship with Kody as an area where he's made no effort.
Meri is planning to move her clothing business to Utah, where she's running her late mother's B&B. She's scared to tell Robyn about this as she feels Robyn is the only one who will care (and she's not wrong).
"As long as this is just what you've gotta do and there's no permanency to it," Robyn tells her.
But though Meri is assuring Robyn that she will still live in Flagstaff, she also claims that Robyn "hasn't reached out a lot" through the pandemic, and says that Kody's wife will need to let her know if she wants her around.
Meri says she's still holding out hope that she and Kody can make their relationship work, saying, "I just feel like he is going to sometime realize that this is something that he committed to as well and that we can work on moving forward. I want him to work on this relationship with me. I don't care anymore, but I do care. I know what I really want."
But Kody doesn't seem quite so optimistic.
"Meri and I have gone through a process here over the past seven years and we've gotten back to the place where I feel like we are getting along… but I don't want to reconcile the relationship because I don't think it's a fit for me," Kody says.
Robyn claims she's "torn" with Meri, saying she wants her to be happy while also wanting her to help them keep the family together.
"I love Kody, but I never wanted to live monogamy and it feels like more and more that's where it's heading," Robyn says. "And I'm angry. I'm really angry… I can start to feel a little tricked and, like, people are making decisions for my life that I didn't choose."
Fans of Sister Wives know that things don't ultimately work out between Meri and Kody. In January, they confirmed that they have "permanently terminated" their marriage. Robyn is Kody's only remaining wife.
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
RELATED CONTENT:
