Sister Wives' Janelle Responds to Kody Saying She Just Wanted His Body

Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Goes Public With New Boyfriend 4 Years After Kody Brown SplitSister Wives star Janelle Brown knows the moment she realized she could no longer, er, stomach life with Kody Brown. And, no, it's not because she was only interested in his "nice pecs and great six-pack abs," like the father of 18 once claimed on the long-running TLC series. As Janelle cracked on the show's Oct. 11 episode, "At one point Kody said, 'Well, she just liked me for my pecs and my abs.' I'm like, 'Well, you didn't always have those.'" What he did, however, possess for the first few decades of their nearly 30-year union, was the affection of his kids. "Kody's children were his soulmates," acknowledged Janelle, who shares Logan Brown, Madison Brush, Hunter Brown, Gabriel Brown, Savanah Brown and the late Garrison Brown with Kody. "His children were his center of his universe back then." It's not as if she felt that he didn't love her or fellow sister wives Meri Brown and Christine Brown, she recounted, "But his children were his joy. He loved them and he was a really good dad." Until he simply wasn't. Because for the 57-year-old, what truly divided her and Kody wasn't his love for sole remaining wife Robyn Brown or his inability to move forward with building their shared Arizona property. "I think the biggest thing for me started when he really started to be hard on my children, wanting them to conform to his opinion, wanting them to act a certain way," Janelle explained. "That's when all of a sudden I'm like, 'OK, I don't know if I can do this anymore.' It was a burden to stay married." And having officially flown the coop, nesting inside her new North Carolina digs, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be caged into a new romance. "The relationship that I had was so much work," she explained while meeting with a relationship consultant during the Oct. 11 episode, "and I just don't want that anymore. And I have friends that are like, 'Oh, it's not that hard when you find the right person.' I'm like, 'I don't know.'" Janelle Brown/InstagramThough now she may know that she knows, hard-launching her romance with new boyfriend Pete in August. And, yes, she feels they may have something really special, with the local checking off several of her must-haves. "I don't want a man of few words," she stressed to the consultant, noting that "kind is the most important thing. Looks are, like, whatever." In fact, Janelle continued, she had a strict pretty-boys-need-not-apply policy. "Kody was also kind of obsessed with looking good, and having everything in his life have this certain kind of look and have it be just so," Janelle detailed, noting she'd be "very gun shy" should she encounter someone with a similar mindset. Outside of that, "It would have to be somebody who is very family-oriented," she added. "Personality matters more to me than anything. Then there's the thing about where I'm never moving away from my house." She is, however, willing to open up her heart. And she's not the only Sister Wives star settling down. Check out the other cast members who discovered love is meant to be shared with someone special. shutter stockKody Brown & Robyn Brown"She looked like a soccer mom," Kody Brown once joked on Sister Wives of meeting then-single mom Robyn in 2009. "She had a van, three kids and was divorced. I thought, 'I didn't need a van, a divorced woman, and three kids in my life—that's just trouble.'"More than a decade and a half on, though, they're still kicking it, with the pair adding son Solomon and daughter Ariella to the squad. As for bringing on other teammates, it's not in the game plan. "I really, really struggle with it because it feels, like, 'Oh, well. Those didn't work. So, on to [someone] new,'" Robyn said on the December 2024 Sister Wives: One on One special of Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Christine Brown leaving the fold. "That's hard for me. That's really, really hard for me. It feels disrespectful."Meri Brown/InstagramMeri BrownIn January 2024, a year after she and Kody announced their breakup, Meri revealed on Instagram that she had begun dating Amos Andrews the previous October. But in February 2024, Meri confirmed on Instagram that they had called it quits. In 2026, Meri confirmed she was seeing a man named Ron who she met at a speed-dating event. "I am happy," she said on the TLC series' One-on-One special. "Ron is a really cool guy, very comfortable. I'm very comfortable hanging out with him."Janelle Brown/InstagramJanelle BrownLiving proof that once you stop looking for love it finds you, Janelle hard launched her relationship with a suitor she referred to only as Pete through an August 2026 Instagram post. "I wasn’t looking," insisted the mom of six, who'd frequently questioned if she'd ever date again. "I certainly wasn’t expecting you. And somehow, you turned out to be exactly what I didn’t know I needed." Summed up the North Carolinian: "It has been pretty wonderful. Everyone please meet Pete." InstagramChristine Brown WoolleyShe got the man and the family. Going official with her and David Woolley's romance on Valentine's Day 2023, Christine shared, "I finally found the love of my life, David. The first time he held me close, it felt like my soul took its first breath. He's wonderful and kind, incredible with my children and an adorable grandpa. I never dreamed I could find a love like this."Two months later he added to the fantasy with a spring proposal. "David treats me like a queen and tells me I'm beautiful everyday," Christine told People. "I've never been in love like this before and the world seems like a brighter place with him in it."Tying the knot in Utah on Oct. 7, 2023, she wrote, "I'm so blessed! I've married my best friend."InstagramMadison Brown BrushThe first of the 18 Brown children to walk down the aisle, Janelle's eldest daughter wed Caleb Brush at a 2016 outdoor wedding in Montana captured by TLC's cameras. A decade later, the two have fully multiplied their love with Emilia joining older siblings Axel, Evie and Josephine in March 2025. “Our sweet girl took her time, keeping us all in suspense, but when she decided it was time—she didn’t waste a second," North Carolina-based Maddie wrote on Instagram. "Born on 3/14, she arrived absolutely perfect.”InstagramLeon BrownFour years after their engagement aired on the TLC reality show, Meri's only child settled in Denver with Audrey Kriss. "My sweetest symphony," Leon raved of their partner in 2022. "Life with you truly is so sweet." Echoed Audrey, "Being your partner and watching your growth and coming into yourself over the years has been an honor and joy."InstagramLogan BrownEldest Brown kid Logan got the gang back together when he married longtime girlfriend Michelle Petty in Arizona in 2022. "It was a beautiful day and this mama's heart was mush the whole time," Janelle shared on Instagram of her son's wedding. "You always have such a sense of peace when your children find amazing life partners."InstagramMykelti BrownMore than six years after her 2016 wedding to Antonio "Tony" Padron, Mykelti joked that they'd already tested the limits of their marriage vows by welcoming twins Archer and Ace into the fold in November 2022. "We have 3 kids and 4 moves under our belt," North Carolina-based Mykelti, who is also mom to eldest daughter Avalon, wrote on Instagram at the time. "A whole lot of good times and some hard times #surprisetwins But here we are still doing this whole marriage thing."Instagram/Mitch ThompsonAspyn BrownSince their 2018 wedding, Christine's oldest daughter and husband Mitch Thompson have traveled everywhere from Paris to Alaska. But in December 2022, they put down roots, with Mitch sharing on Instagram, "We bought our first home! Just in time for Christmas." Aspyn announced her pregnancy with the couple's first baby in April 2025.InstagramGwendlyn BrownBefore hitting their one-year anniversary, Christine's third oldest daughter and love Beatriz Queiroz went to the happiest place on earth and marked six months together with chocolate fondue. Then came the really sweet part, with Gwendlyn sharing a glimpse at the candlelit, rose-filled proposal on Instagram in November 2022, writing simply, "i'm engaged!!" The couple wed in July 2023, captioning a photo from the ceremony: "Say hello to mrs (x2) queiroz."