Kody Brown has struggled to maintain his plural marriage on Sister Wives and many fans suspect that his second wife, Janelle Brown, might be ready to leave their polygamist relationship. Of Kody's four sister wives, Janelle is one of the patriarch's most ardent advocates, however, Janelle has indicated that she could be in the process of ending their spiritual union on and off the reality series. From sharing pictures without Kody on Instagram to spending a summer in an RV without her husband, these are all of the reasons why Janelle might finally be done with Kody.
Kody and Janelle have an interesting history together that is more complicated than the rest of the polygamist's three other relationships. Before Janelle joined Kody's plural marriage, Janelle was married to another man. Interestingly enough, this other man was none other than Meri's brother. Eventually, Janelle divorced Meri's brother and became Kody's spiritual wife in 1993. Although Janelle gets into fewer quarrels with Kody than Meri and Christine do, she hasn't always had the best experience as a part of the Brown family. During the first years of her marriage with Kody, Janelle contemplated leaving the plural relationship because she felt unloved. Janelle's also shared that she didn't get along with Meri at first, and she wasn't sure she could rectify their bond.
Despite the bumps in the road that hampered the beginning of Janelle's relationship with Kody, the Sister Wives star has weathered the storm and stuck with her spiritual husband for almost 30 years. Recently, however, Janelle hinted at finally leaving Kody as she almost did during the first years of their marriage. In the latest Sister Wives season 16 preview shared by TLC Network's Twitter account, Janelle expresses that she's frustrated with the way Kody and his fourth wife Robyn have handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of quarantining together as a family as Janelle suggested, Kody and Robyn insisted on keeping the wives apart. Janelle shared, "I'm at my wit's end with this whole b******* stuff." By splitting the family up during COVID, Janelle might now feel just as isolated as she did during the early years of her plural marriage and finally follow her intuition to leave.
More evidence that Janelle is preparing to break up with Kody comes in her newfound independence. Typically, the Brown family upholds a traditional family structure in which the wives are submissive and dependent upon their husband. Recently, however, Janelle's Instagram has demonstrated that the Sister Wives star is comfortable living her life without Kody. Over the summer, Janelle made the surprising decision to live on her own in an RV parked in Kody's Coyote Pass plot of land. By spending several months without Kody, Janelle proved she's self-sufficient. Janelle continued to exhibit that she doesn't need Kody when she posted pictures on her Instagram story that showed her setting up a new wifi modem and at the movies without her husband. With little evidence of Kody on her Instagram, Janelle could be indicating that she's ready to ditch the patriarch.
Janelle's relationship with Kody has had its fair share of ups and downs, and it seems like the second wife might be experiencing another low point in her marriage. From expressing her frustration with Kody's handling of the pandemic to flaunting her independence on Instagram, Janelle could be ready to take a leap of faith out of her polygamist family. Whether she stays or goes, Janelle is poised to have a rocky run on Sister Wives season 16.
Sources: TLC Network/Twitter, Janelle Brown/Instagram