The Truth About Janelle From Sister Wives

Janelle from Sister Wives would agree that there's something so fascinating in learning about people who are vastly different than everyone you know. Perhaps that's why reality television is so popular, as you get insider access to all sorts of folks. That includes everyone from the Kardashians to the Chrisleys to Kat Von D.

One of the most popular reality shows, Sister Wives, follows the life of Kody Brown, a family patriarch who has four wives. It's a captivating program, and fans can't get enough of the family, especially the wives: Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn. Each of them have families of their own, for a total of 18 children, as noted by the Arizona Daily Sun.

Even though the wives all signed up for a polygamous marriage, they all bring something unique to the table, including Janelle. She's been on the show for so long that fans might think they know everything about her, but the truth about Janelle from Sister Wives is that she's more complex than you might think.

In a polygamous marriage, there's more than one spouse, and, for the Brown family, that means multiple wives for Kody Brown. Sister Wives' Janelle Brown is actually Kody's second wife; Meri – who broke out of the Sister Wives world — was his first, followed by Christine Brown and Robyn Brown. But just because Janelle is Kody's second wife, that doesn't mean their relationship comes second to anyone else's.

Janelle and Kody met in 1989, though they were just friends at first. However, after Janelle moved onto Kody's family ranch in Wyoming, it didn't take long for the two to become more than friends. As TLC explained on their website, one day when Meri and Kody were visiting the ranch, they invited Janelle to stay with them for a while at their home in Montana. It was there that something really took off between Janelle and Kody, and they started a relationship before getting married the next year in 1993. 

That might sound odd to people who aren't familiar with the polygamist culture, but for Janelle from Sister Wives, it worked out wonderfully.

Another significant aspect of polygamist culture is having big families. With multiple wives who all have multiple children, the Brown family from Sister Wives is no exception. In total they have 18 kids, as noted by In Touch, so it's no wonder the Browns needs large living quarters. Chances are their grocery bill is pretty exorbitant as well!

But just how many of those 18 kids are the offspring of Janelle and Kody Brown? Well, she's had more than her fair share of children, that's for sure. Specifically, the couple share six children together, according to TLC: Logan, Maddie, Hunter, Garrison, Gabriel, and Savannah. 

As In Touch notes, not only does Janelle from Sister Wives have a lot of children, but she also has current and future sons- and daughters-in-law. Two of Janelle's kids are in long-term relationships, making the family appear even larger, if that's even possible. Logan got engaged to his girlfriend, Michelle Petty, in 2017, and Maddie married her husband, Caleb Brush, that same year. Given that Janelle and Kody's other children will likely get married someday as well, the Brown family will only continue to grow.

Though Janelle from Sister Wives stars on a hit reality show and has an extremely high-profile marriage, being famous isn't something that she was chasing. Rather, Janelle Brown values her family more than anything, and has made it clear that she wants to sow good values into her children. That would have been the case with or without Sister Wives, as there's nothing more important to Janelle than watching her kids to grow up to become kind, good people.

Additionally, Janelle believes passionately that her work as a mother can have a significant impact, something she's spoken about in the past. "If we raise productive, contributing members of society who are moral and ethical, that's our final goal," she proclaimed in an episode of Sister Wives (via People). "Whatever their path is." And as fans have seen on Sister Wives, this has remained true for Janelle, as she is nothing but supportive of her kids — even when they're a handful. Sure, it's nice to be a reality television star, but for Janelle, it's all about the kids.

If you've watched Sister Wives, you know that the drama can get intense at times, especially among the ladies. But for the most part, Janelle Brown seems to be pretty level-headed throughout it all. Perhaps that's because she's already a grandparent, and values that role more than creating drama or winning petty arguments.

Though Janelle and the other sister wives have 18 children altogether, she was the first among them to become a grandmother. Both of her grandchildren come from the same daughter, Maddie, and her husband, Caleb Brush. As People reported, Maddie gave birth to the first Sister Wives grandchild in May of 2017, when she welcomed son Axel into the world. Then, in 2019, Maddie gave birth to her daughter, Evangelynne, and the Brown family got even bigger – and way more adorable. Little Evangelynne, who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that will impact her limb development, is a total cutie, just like her brother. Janelle frequently posts doting pictures of them on her Instagram page, too.

Sister Wives' Janelle Brown may be a successful reality television star, wife, mother, and grandmother, but she still struggles with the same issues so many other women also contend with. Most notably, Janelle has dealt with body image issues, but in a 2020 Facebook post, she explained she was done with that mindset. "For years I made excuses about going anywhere that required swimsuit," she wrote alongside a selfie of her on the beach. "I'm a work in progress for sure but I missed out on so much fun through the years. No More!" She added that the more she was able to accept her body, the more confident and appreciative of it she became.

Janelle also shared a bit of advice for anyone else struggling with how they look or their body image. "So here is my yearly post about how to go to the beach," she continued. "Put on your suit and go." She's not wrong.

The decision to get married is a big one in and of itself, so it's a good idea not to rush into a marriage. Legally tying yourself to someone else forever seems like a big deal, and frankly it is. That said, the decision to get married to a man who already has a wife, and may want more, is an entirely different kettle of fish. But for Janelle Brown from Sister Wives, it didn't take too much convincing for her to decide that having sister wives actually sounded pretty nice. She knew she'd be marrying the entire family, which is exactly what she wanted.

However, Janelle didn't grow up in a polygamist family. She actually was raised in the Mormon Church, which doesn't promote the lifestyle. But, when she saw polygamy in action, she was intrigued. "I met Meri's family when I was 19," she told Oprah Winfrey in an interview. "I actually met Kody a few years after that. I think I was 22 when I finally thought: 'Wow, Kody's a great guy. Maybe I'm okay with this plural marriage thing.'" Hey, if it works for her, then that's great!

Though Janelle Brown and her family have tried their hardest to promote and normalize the polygamist lifestyle on Sister Wives, and have arguably done a pretty good job of that, the legal system has a different outlook. Because it wasn't legal for a man to be married to two women at the same time when Janelle joined the Brown family, she was actually never legally wedded to Kody Brown — even though his first wife, Meri, was. In fact, Kody knew out of the gate that his marriage to Janelle was never going to be legal in the eyes of the law. "We weren't looking for the state to do that," he revealed in an interview that was shared on Oprah.com. "This is strictly a family unit, [and] we didn't feel like we needed that."

While Janelle was never legally bound to Kody, she was married to someone else at one point. As Radar Online reported, Janelle was actually wed to a man named Adam Barber, but that's not all. Barber is the brother of Meri Brown, Kody's first wife. The two were only married for two years, but it's a pretty unique situation, to say the least.

With Janelle Brown having six kids of her own and there being 18 total children in the Brown family, it's understandable that all the sister wives would need to pull their weight to make things work financially. And for Janelle Brown, that meant pursuing a career in real estate, which she revealed in a tweet. Fans of Sister Wives might remember seeing Janelle talk about or work her real estate magic on the show, but it hasn't always been an easy ride or career choice.

As SoapDirt reported, Janelle from Sister Wives was actually the listing agent for her own home in Nevada, as well as the home of her fellow sister-wife, Christine. But when Janelle couldn't get either of the houses sold, the family moved in a different direction and hired a new realtor on as the listing agent. Whether Janelle is continuing in her real estate career or not after her failed attempts to sell her family's homes is unclear.

In addition to Sister Wives' Janelle Brown's real estate career, the sister wife has also launched another business: Strive with Janelle. She explained her reason for starting the enterprise, which focuses on personal health. "When I began my own wellness journey five years ago, I had reached a point where I knew I had to make a change," she wrote on the business' website. "However, once I took the first steps, I found that my life did change, but not in the expected way." The reason? Janelle was able to increase her quality of life so much that she didn't know it had been lacking so dramatically to begin with.

Janelle added that she had another motivation to launch Strive with Janelle, which was to help people who might be struggling in the same ways she was. "I created Strive with Janelle, because I wanted to provide a community and resources that empowered others that found themselves in a similar place," she added. 

Because Janelle is a certified IIN-Health Coach, Strive with Janelle focuses on health coaching, and anyone can hop on board.

Though Janelle Brown from Sister Wives has a lot going on in her life, with six children, two grandchildren, three sister wives, and one husband, that hasn't stopped her from continuing her education. Specifically, Janelle has pursued more and more learning opportunities in the health and wellness industry, and even founded a new kind of health coach certification, which she shared joyfully with her fans. "Just finished my first year in the Joyful Belly School of Ayurveda!" she wrote on Instagram. "I am very happy I started working towards completing my basic Ayurveda Health Counselor certification." 

Janelle went on to explain that she'd learned a lot in the program, and knew others would benefit from it as well. "I feel it has helped me immensely personally, and has provided me with a lot of resources for my clients," she added. Strive with Janelle needed a boost, it seems, and acquiring additional health-related knowledge has truly allowed Janelle to be her best self.

One of the most common questions people have about the stars of TLC's Sister Wives is whether or not their children will follow in their parents' footsteps and choose a polygamous lifestyle. Well, that question has already been answered by one of Janelle Brown's children, who is married and has made it clear that polygamy isn't for her.

Maddie Brown, Janelle's oldest daughter and the mother of her two grandkids, married Caleb Brush in 2017, who she calls her true love. In an interview with People, Brush explained that the couple had no desire to pursue polygamy. "We are not living plural marriage," Brush told the magazine. "We support Maddie's family with their choice of living plural marriage and they support us with our choice in just marrying each other." 

While Maddie and Brush won't be entering into a polygamous relationship, Brush respected Maddie's family enough to ask for her father's permission before popping the big question, as People reported. To each their own!

Janelle Brown from Sister Wives is totally on top of her own health, as a health coach who is constantly learning new things about personal wellness. But in 2020 Janelle actually had a health scare, and she said she regrets waiting so long to get it checked out by a doctor. In a Facebook post on her Strive with Janelle page, the sister wife explained that she had "made a grown-up foray into the world of skin cancer," and ended up having a lesion removed for being cancerous. "I think I wanted to post because I was surprised how common basal cell carcinoma was," she wrote.

Janelle added that she was initially afraid of having the lesion removed, but she was so happy that she did. "So little discomfort considering that they had to take a dime size lesion off my upper lip," she continued. Janelle also added that even though this form of skin cancer doesn't have a tendency to spread, the entire experience had been a wake-up call for her to pay attention to her skin health.

Having a health scare like that isn't fun, but it definitely taught Janelle to be proactive in her health.

As a real estate agent, it's not surprising that Janelle Brown from Sister Wives has a nice house for herself. Even though she's part of an even larger family as a sister wife, Janelle still has a gorgeous place to lay her head down every night — even if her husband isn't always there. Nevertheless, The Sun reported that Janelle and her children moved into a stunning new home in Flagstaff, Arizona in May 2020, where Janelle pays about $2,900 per month in rent. Whether or not she ends up buying the home, it's not a bad place to be for the time being.

According to The Sun, the new house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as an updated kitchen with granite countertops and new appliances. Janelle's master bedroom is luxurious as well, as it features walk-in closets and a big bathroom. Though it's unclear how often Kody is at Janelle's house, the home seems lovely, with or without a husband in it.

In 2020, life in the United States drastically changed when the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation and the globe. Stay-at-home orders quickly became the norm for the majority of Americans, social distancing became a mandatory reality, and people learned what happens to your body when you get coronavirus. For the Brown family, that meant not being able to be together as often as they would like, for the safety of themselves and others. "I really think it would have been easier to deal with being quarantined if we were all under one roof because we're having to be so separate," Janelle Brown from Sister Wives told Us Weekly about how she was handling the pandemic. 

Like many other families, the Browns had to adapt to the new normal, which wasn't exactly enjoyable. "We have to limit family gatherings," she continued. "If we were together our exposure would be one less person going to the grocery store instead of doing it for separate households." She added that "there would be more camaraderie," if that were the case, which would make the pandemic that much easier to deal with.