Sister Wives’ Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn Brown Spill Secrets of the New Season

Credit: TLC (4)

Sister Wives' Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn Brown Spill Secrets of the New Season

The Sister Wives have reached a crossroads. In 2011, Kody Brown and his four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn, fled Utah for Las Vegas to avoid their home state’s strict laws against bigamy. In the trailer for the latest season, the family patriarch, 50, talks about his desire to leave Sin City — but not all of the sister wives seem to be on board. Here, all five reality stars tell Us Weekly all about this season’s big move and what life is like in their new home of Flagstaff, Arizona. Plus, first wife Meri opens up about how she and Kody are working on their relationship, and the family reveals whether there could be more kids — or more wives — in their future!

Credit: TLC (4)

Sister Wives' Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn Brown Spill Secrets of the New Season

The Sister Wives have reached a crossroads. In 2011, Kody Brown and his four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn, fled Utah for Las Vegas to avoid their home state’s strict laws against bigamy. In the trailer for the latest season, the family patriarch, 50, talks about his desire to leave Sin City — but not all of the sister wives seem to be on board. Here, all five reality stars tell Us Weekly all about this season’s big move and what life is like in their new home of Flagstaff, Arizona. Plus, first wife Meri opens up about how she and Kody are working on their relationship, and the family reveals whether there could be more kids — or more wives — in their future!

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The Big Move

“We left Utah fleeing potential criminal prosecution for being a family,” explains Kody. After years of fighting to change Utah’s laws in hopes that they could return home, it became clear to the Browns “that idea was no longer tenable,” he says. They began searching for a new home that would suit them, and they found it in picturesque Flagstaff. “The main reason to leave Las Vegas is because we were never really city people,” says Kody. “We essentially chose Flagstaff for more of a family friendly and rustic lifestyle. The place is beautiful.” 

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Why Janelle Almost Stayed Behind

Viewers will see the second wife to join the family, Janelle, weigh the needs of the few against the many this season. “I was really conflicted” about the move, says the 49-year-old. She worried her teenagers would struggle with switching high schools. “It really wasn’t about not moving, it was about the timing,” she explains. “In my darkest moments, I did consider staying behind.” In the end, Arizona’s natural beauty convinced her that life there would be “richer than what they were getting” in Las Vegas, where the family often stayed indoors to escape the sweltering heat. “We finally came to a place where we were all at peace with it,” she says, “and the kids have really blossomed here.”

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Their Living Situation in Flagstaff

There’s one downside to their new home. The sister wives no longer live within walking distance of each other like they have in the past. “We’re just too far apart and I miss everybody,” says third wife Christine, 46. “It takes more effort to get together.” They plan to change their living situation in the near future. “We have purchased property,” she says. “My biggest hope is that we can just get out there... I can’t wait for that day.”

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Will the Browns Add Another Wife?

“We’re not even considering it anymore,” Kody reveals. Before fourth wife Robyn joined the family in 2010, he explains, “There was an energy, some kind of spiritual thing, inspiration from God, if you will, that the family wasn’t complete.” Today, he and his four wives feel whole. “It's not a discussion in the family,” says Kody. “It's a door we've basically said we're closing.”

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Do They Want More Kids?

Robyn hasn’t completely given up on the idea of having more children with Kody, but she says she’s leaving it to a higher power. “When we grow our family, it’s sort of by inspiration,” the 40-year-old tells Us. “At this point we feel like we’re done, but we’re open to God’s inspiration. ... If we were blessed with more children, of course I would be totally open to that.” Until then, the family is focused on raising their 18 kids, who range in age from 3 to 24. And though Kody says he’s always “tempted” to have another baby, he’s more concerned with his grandchildren nowadays. Maddie, one of his daughters with Janelle, gave birth to the first Brown grandchild, Axel, in 2017. “I’m hoping for more,” says Kody. “[Axel] is the sweetest thing I've ever seen.” 

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What's Going on Between Meri and Kody?

Last season, Kody called his bond with his first wife, Meri, 48, “platonic.” Today, she tells Us, they’re continuing to heal. “He's always been my husband. At this point we are just building our relationship and working on it. There's ups and downs with every relationship always, and we're working on the ups.”

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Will They Ever Kick Out the Cameras?

“Us being public and being on film is all up to the viewers,” says Kody. “The reason that we've kept doing it for so long was because we still feel like the message isn't being projected enough.” With polygamy laws still against them, it’s important to the Browns to show the world that there are “normal, quality, functional, plural families,” he says. And rest assured, the love and support you see between them on screen is the real thing, says Kody: “Nobody would have hair like I have if some producer had control of it, you know what I'm saying?”