Kody Brown is still butting heads with Janelle Brown over her desire to build on the family’s Coyote Pass property — and Christine Brown is in her corner.
“I don’t think we’re going to be building on this property by spring,” Kody, 54, tells the camera in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek at season 18 of Sister Wives. “Coming up with money to pay off Coyote Pass … very difficult. Coming up with a down payment on a house … not hard.”
Kody says the family “could have” come up with the funds for a down payment on a house but claims in the clip that Janelle, 54, was “refusing to do that.” (The Browns moved from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2018 and later bought the Coyote Pass land in hopes to build houses for each wife to live next to each other.)
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Janelle, however, insists that Kody’s remarks about money aren’t accurate. “I think the biggest problem in forward movement is this argument that the family has whether we have the ability to pay off the property or not,” she says in her confessional. “We have the money.”
Janelle argues in the teaser that the Browns are “in the same situation we were in when we gave Christine the money for her house and definitely when we gave Robyn [Brown] the money for her house.”
She confesses: “I just feel like nobody is watching out for me. Nobody is prioritizing me. It’s not a five-alarm fire.”
While Kody wants to squash Janelle’s house build, she finds solace in Christine, 51, who split from Kody in November 2021 after more than 25 years together.
“I still consider Janelle my sister wife. It’s super weird, I think. We’re not really just friends,” Christine says in the clip.
Janelle, for her part, agrees that she and Christine are still sister wives despite their disassociation with Kody. (Janelle confirmed in December 2022 that she and Kody had “separated” months prior just shy of their 30-year anniversary. The exes share six children.)
When it comes to Janelle’s desire to have a house on her portion of Coyote Pass in Arizona, Christine has her back. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so excited for you,” Christine tells Janelle in the video after Janelle reveals she could break ground as early as spring.
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“I think if Janelle wants to build, then she should definitely build,” Christine later tells the cameras, adding, “The thing is, I know they haven’t paid off the property.”
Janelle and Kody’s battle over building on the family land is boiling over from season 17 of Sister Wives. Last season, fans watched as Janelle and youngest daughter Savannah, 18, moved onto their plot of land and lived in an RV. The temporary motorhome move lasted from summer 2021 to fall of that year.
During their stay, Kody voiced his frustrations over having to share a bed with the dogs and took issue with Janelle wanting to live there and not in a real house nearby. “Buying an RV and moving into it … single woman decision,” Kody said during a December 2022 episode, claiming Janelle wasn’t loyal to him. “Going to see your kids without your husband for holidays … single woman decisions.”
Later that month, Janelle revealed during the Sister Wives tell-all special that she and Kody were no longer an item. In January, Meri Brown released a joint statement with Kody confirming that they had also separated after more than 30 years. Kody is currently married to his fourth wife, Robyn, whom he legally wed in 2014.
Sister Wives season 18 premieres on TLC Sunday, August 20, at 10 p.m. ET.