Sister Sister, and a Mister with Christine and Janelle

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Sister Sister, and a Mister with Christine and Janelle"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode: Sister Sister, and a Mister with Christine and Janelle
• Release Date: February 17, 2025

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Overview

In the February 17, 2025 episode of Sibling Revelry, hosts Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson engage in a profound and candid conversation with Christine and Janelle Brown, both of whom have been part of the reality TV show Sister Wives. The episode delves deep into the complexities of sibling bonds, family dynamics, the psychological impacts of plural marriage, and the journey towards personal independence and self-discovery after leaving a fundamentalist religious lifestyle.

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1. Introduction to Guests and Topic (00:22 - 08:20)

The episode opens with Oliver Hudson introducing the concept of the podcast—exploring sibling relationships and family dynamics. He introduces Christine and Janelle Brown, former participants of Sister Wives, setting the stage for an in-depth discussion about their experiences in a polygamous family structure.

Notable Quote:

Oliver Hudson: "We wanted to do something that highlighted our relationship and what it's like to be siblings. We are a sibling rivalry. No, no sibling R for free." [02:05]

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2. Personal Experiences with Plural Marriage (08:20 - 13:36)

Christine and Janelle share their personal journeys within the plural marriage framework. They discuss living in separate locations—Christine in Utah and Janelle in North Carolina—and maintaining strong family connections despite geographical distances.

Notable Quotes:

Christine Brown: "I love it here. It feels like home. I finally feel like I'm home now." [08:55]

Janelle Brown: "My daughter Madison and her husband Caleb were also interested in that. So we started looking all over the country because Caleb has a job that allows him to go different places." [09:13]

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3. Leaving the Faith and Marriage Dissolution (13:37 - 20:14)

The conversation shifts to the emotional and spiritual journey of leaving plural marriage. Christine recounts her difficult decision to end her marriage with Cody, emphasizing the lack of formal divorce procedures within their faith but highlighting her reliance on spiritual affirmation and personal boundaries.

Notable Quotes:

Christine Brown: "I kicked him out of my room, my bedroom. I just told him I didn't want him to be in my bed anymore." [08:55]

Janelle Brown: "I wasn't leaving; I had to leave. It's a personal decision, and I respected everyone's feelings while asserting my own." [18:09]

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4. Impact on Family and Children (20:15 - 35:28)

Christine and Janelle discuss the ramifications of their departure on their children and extended family. They highlight their efforts to raise their children with strong individual identities and faiths, allowing them to pursue their own beliefs independently of the family's past.

Notable Quotes:

Janelle Brown: "Our children have all chosen different things and are all on their own paths. Some are not even big believers of God, and that's okay." [35:28]

Christine Brown: "We raised our kids to have a good relationship with God, but we also exposed them to a broader world beyond the fundamentalist faith." [43:11]

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5. Feminism and Independence (47:41 - 53:51)

The discussion navigates the intersection of feminism and plural marriage. Both Christine and Janelle affirm their feminist beliefs, asserting their independence within and beyond the constraints of their former marital structure.

Notable Quotes:

Janelle Brown: "I've always considered myself a feminist, meaning that women can do anything, any job, or have any opportunity that a man could have." [48:35]

Christine Brown: "I always learned how to be strong and independent and stand up for myself and fight for myself." [50:07]

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6. Dealing with Social Perception and Media Exposure (56:36 - 59:25)

Christine and Janelle recount the challenges and changes brought about by their family's participation in the Sister Wives TV show. They discuss the fear of public exposure and the subsequent shift in societal understanding of plural marriage, emphasizing their desire to portray a more nuanced and humanized image.

Notable Quotes:

Christine Brown: "We wanted to show that we were just regular people, not bound by a certain dress or dogma." [58:38]

Janelle Brown: "Our goal was to expand people's ideas of what plural marriage was and show that it's not always about control." [58:22]

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7. Host's Reflections and Conclusion (60:38 - 60:57)

Oliver Hudson reflects on the conversation, expressing admiration for Christine and Janelle's strength and independence. He acknowledges the transformative impact of their experiences and considers how such discussions can alter preconceived notions about plural marriage.

Notable Quote:

Oliver Hudson: "Watching them from episode one till now, their journey shows how these experiences have built strong character and shaped who they are today." [60:56]

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Key Insights and Conclusions

• Personal Growth Through Adversity: Christine and Janelle illustrate how leaving a complex marital and religious system can lead to significant personal growth and increased independence.

• Impact on Children: Raising children outside of the plural marriage framework has allowed their children to explore individual beliefs and identities, fostering a more open and diverse family dynamic.

• Feminism and Agency: Both women maintain strong feminist identities, emphasizing their ability to balance family life with personal and professional aspirations.

• Social Perception and Media: Their participation in Sister Wives has been instrumental in reshaping public perceptions of plural marriage, highlighting the importance of media representation in fostering understanding.

• Resilience and Adaptability: The Browns demonstrate resilience in navigating familial and societal challenges, advocating for personal autonomy and mutual respect within complex relationships.

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Notable Quotes with Attributions and Timestamps

• Oliver Hudson: "We wanted to do something that highlighted our relationship and what it's like to be siblings. We are a sibling rivalry. No, no sibling R for free." [02:05]

• Christine Brown: "I kicked him out of my room, my bedroom. I just told him I didn't want him to be in my bed anymore." [08:55]

• Janelle Brown: "Our children have all chosen different things and are all on their own paths. Some are not even big believers of God, and that's okay." [35:28]

• Janelle Brown: "I've always considered myself a feminist, meaning that women can do anything, any job, or have any opportunity that a man could have." [48:35]

• Christine Brown: "We wanted to show that we were just regular people, not bound by a certain dress or dogma." [58:38]

• Oliver Hudson: "Watching them from episode one till now, their journey shows how these experiences have built strong character and shaped who they are today." [60:56]

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Conclusion

This episode of Sibling Revelry offers a compelling exploration of the complexities surrounding plural marriage, personal independence, and the enduring strength of sibling relationships. Through the candid narratives of Christine and Janelle Brown, listeners gain valuable insights into the emotional and psychological processes involved in leaving a fundamentalist lifestyle, the impact on family dynamics, and the pursuit of personal growth and feminist ideals. The conversation underscores the importance of understanding and respecting individual choices within familial and societal frameworks.

Transcript

[Oliver Hudson]

Sister Wives returns at last. And while the Browns have gone their own separate ways, that doesn't mean they're done with each other. Mary and Janelle form an unlikely alliance. Christine is off living in newly married bliss, and Kody and Robin are left wondering, can they be happy in a monogamous relationship? And after all the joy and drama, they hit the hot seat and answer the questions everyone has been begging to know. Sister Wives return Sunday at 10, 9.

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[Oliver Hudson]

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[Janelle Brown]

Danning.

[Oliver Hudson]

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We wanted to do something that highlighted.

[Oliver Hudson]

Our relationship and what it's like to be siblings. We are a sibling rivalry. No, no sibling R for free.

[Janelle Brown]

Don't do that with your mouth.

[Oliver Hudson]

Sibling revelry. That's good. Oliver Hudson? Yes. How are you? I'm pretty good. How are you? I'm good. I'm just a little bit sad. Oh, Oliver, why are you sad? Well, because it's a little gloomy out today and there's fires in Malibu. Oh, that's okay, Oliver. You know, life is interesting. The Ups and the downs and sometimes shit will pass. I know. Oliver. So that's me talking to myself. It just reminded me of something I did in therapy. Oh my God, it was fucking horrible. This is a while back, dealing with, you know, daddy issues. Dealing with sort of, you know, whatever. Not just daddy issues. Whatever my childhood brought on, you know, that then affected my adult life. And you know, therapy is good for everyone, even if you're from the insanely fucked up to the, you know, the so called normal. We're not normal. No one's normal. Everyone has their shit. Therapy is probably good for every human being on this planet. But trying to sort of break through something. My therapist made me do this exercise and I was reminded by it, by me, my little sort of talk to myself that I just did. I had to play my. My current self and then my younger self. My six year old boy would then talk to my adult self and I would have to have this conversation with myself as Oliver in the present day. And then Oliver as a six year old boy. Now it gets better. I had to switch positions in the couch to talk to myself. So I'd sit on one end and be like, hey, hey, little man. Like, how you doing? And then move over to the other side of the couch. Be like, hi. Like, I'm okay. Like, how are you? And then move over, like, you know, you look sad, little buddy. Like, what's going on? And then I'd switch over and I'd be like, you know, I just don't feel safe and I feel insecure and, you know, I just, I wish I had my parents around. And then I'd switch over. Like, it's okay. I mean, it was extremely embarrassing. Even though it was just myself and my therapist, when he said it to me, we're gonna do this exercise. I'm like, no, no, man. Like, come on, like, what the fuck? And he made me do it and it was awful. It was, it was. It's still, I think that caused me to. That experience caused me to seek out more therapy. Actually, at the end of the day, you know, it was more trauma. That exercise was more traumatizing than, you know, my parents splitting up. Anyway, I digress. That's the other thing, the I digress thing. I think I use it right, but I never really know. Like, I digress. It's not I digressed meaning like I digressed, but I digress. Anyway, I'm in a ramble mode. Well, we have some fun guests in the waiting room right now and very excited to sort of get into the talking about psychology when we're talking about sort of religion, faith number one. But then we're talking about sort of the psychology of what it feels like and why it feels bad. Better to basically be one of. In this situation, I think three wives to one, man. They are from the hit show Sister Wives. And I think we've all probably caught a glimpse of it. It's just such. It's so fascinating. It just speaks to just humanity how we're all different. We all feel different things, we all love different things. We all, you know, different things make us happy. And it's the beauty of who we are. We're not all one and the same. Let's get into it. I don't know if there's anything off limits. I don't know. We'll see. I'll probably put my foot in my mouth. But that's kind of the fun of listening to this goddamn show. Christine Brown and Janelle Brown, bring them in. Let's talk Sister Wives. Hello, Janelle, how are you?

[Janelle Brown]

Oh, good. I'm with Maddie and Caleb in Greenville, so. In North Carolina.

[Christine Brown]

Oh, wow.

[Janelle Brown]

Because we actually have purchased some property and we are starting a farm next year, so.

[Oliver Hudson]

Amazing. I've been to Greenville a bunch of times, actually.

[Janelle Brown]

Have you really?

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. I used to play in this golf tournament, the BMW golf tournament there. And I played at Thornblade. And I stayed in little town there in Greenville. I loved it.

[Christine Brown]

Greenville's great. It's such a small town. But you really. Anything that you want. It's. It's cute. It's got a lot of cute stuff.

[Oliver Hudson]

And Christine, where are you in Lehigh?

[Christine Brown]

Utah. Like, it's Salt Lake City. It's like, if you see the valley of Salt Lake City. Yeah, we're like, right over the mountain. And you should see the insane view I have from my back porch. It's mountains, it's gorgeous. It's absolutely beautiful here. Anything you want to do, you can do and then within an hour from us.

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, the Salt Lake area, it's amazing.

[Oliver Hudson]

Well, thank you guys for coming on. This is really fun. I. Let's just get into it. You know what I mean? Like, first of all, why are you guys in separate locations? This is all a new experience for me. So are you. Why are you living in separate places? Where is everybody?

[Christine Brown]

Yeah, we lived in Flagstaff together. Right after I left Cody, I moved up to Utah. My kids are up there, and I just wanted to be up. Up there instead. And Flagstaff. I don't have a lot of you know, I have good memories with my kids in Flagstaff, but, no, thanks. I don't want to ever stay there ever again. So I moved to. To Salt Lake City, Utah, and lived there for a couple. Like, for a couple of years in that location until I met David, and then we moved in together in March. But I'm going to stay in Utah. I'm. I love it here. It feels like home. I finally feel like I'm home now.

[Oliver Hudson]

Great.

[Christine Brown]

There's so many years where we spent wandering and traveling and moving and. And I feel like this is home now. So with.

[Oliver Hudson]

With Cody, you spent these years traveling, moved a lot.

[Christine Brown]

Like, I swear it was every few years. He was, I think, just always trying to help our family be, like, get. Get better financially, whatever. And so I feel like we were always just moving or for whatever reasons. You know, I one time got mad, and I'm like, there's 13 people in this family, and you only care. Think that was a while ago, but, yeah, so we were just moving a lot, and then we moved. We were in Flagstaff for, what, three years before I left? And then, like, yeah, okay.

[Oliver Hudson]

And then. Janelle, what about. What about you?

[Janelle Brown]

After coding, my marriage dissolved. I was in Flagstaff for a while, but then I really. I was really kind of looking for a piece of property to kind of settle in on. I've always wanted that dream. Right. I've always wanted a little. Few acres and a little farm or whatever. And so my daughter Madison and her husband Caleb were also interested in that. So we started looking all over the country because Caleb has a job that allows him to go different places. But it turned out we found our little piece of. Of heaven or whatever here in North Carolina. Right. They're very close to them. So I'm here, and that's where I will plant my roots. So Christine was just here last weekend. We still have a lot of family connection and interaction. Our children are all very close. In fact, there is a group text that Christine and I are not a part of, that they share all the news. And I was like, mom, it was in the text. I'm like, I'm not in that text.

[Christine Brown]

But anyway, yeah, thank you so much for not putting me in that text, children. And I did tell them. I'm like, look, if you're going to try and plan something with Truly in the sibling chat, that's great. But then you actually have to tell me so I can plan. They had this whole trip planned to send to Las Vegas one time to go to a concert, and they asked if they could take Truly, and then that's the last I heard of it. And then suddenly they're like, truly is like, mom, we're leaving tomorrow, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, wait, what? And yeah, it was like right then and there. And we had to make sure she had everything that she needed. I'm like, you guys have got it. Informed me, you know, just some things like that.

[Oliver Hudson]

So how many kids? How many kids do you guys have? Do you know? How many kids do you have?

[Janelle Brown]

So I have six.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay.

[Christine Brown]

Yeah, we both have six.

[Janelle Brown]

But then also Mariah's child, Leo Leon is there in the group chat as well.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay, so. So the first Mariah is Leon.

[Christine Brown]

Like, you don't even refer to the name anymore. Really?

[Oliver Hudson]

Oh, okay.

[Christine Brown]

Leon, Leon, Mary's child.

[Oliver Hudson]

Got it. Okay.

[Christine Brown]

And so that. That name is a. Is a name. We don't associate with them anymore.

[Oliver Hudson]

Got it, got it. Okay. There's so much I'm trying to like, I'm trying to map it all out. Right.

[Christine Brown]

I know you're all good. So Mary has one child, and that's Leon. And Leon's on the group chat with mine and Janelle's kids.

[Oliver Hudson]

And Mary is not on the group chat.

[Christine Brown]

Not on the group chat like, like us. Right. So Mary lives in Parowan. She had that as far as I know. Yeah, I don't. I don't really talk to Mary that much. So she lives in Parowan, as far as I know. In her Airbnb or something like in there, anyway, I guess. I don't know.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay, so six kids and six kids. And they're essentially. Are they their cousins?

[Christine Brown]

Siblings?

[Janelle Brown]

They consider themselves siblings.

[Oliver Hudson]

They're all brothers.

[Christine Brown]

Cody. Like I said when we married Cody, I was the third wife. And after I got married, that's when all the kids came. And so all the kids really were raised as siblings. So they refer to themselves as siblings. They don't use the word half.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah, they're.

[Christine Brown]

To them, they're full siblings.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah, I mean, that's like, essentially like me. I mean, my, my, my brother Wyatt is my half brother. But I mean, we. I don't say that he's my, he's my brother. I grew up with him.

[Janelle Brown]

I mean, yeah, so the kids, all. They grow up together. And that was one goal that we really had when we put our family together was to have them be true, truly siblings, to feel like they were all. And they all grew up together. Like they're all intermixed age wise. And so they do. They're very much siblings.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah.

[Christine Brown]

Magical.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. No, I bet. Now, working backwards just a little bit, because usually you kind of start at the beginning, but, you know, I'm a pretty fluid, you know, conversation guy. So dissolving a marriage, like, how does that work? Is it pretty much standard practices, even though there were three of you, you know, or is there something that has to be done differently that we don't know about or I don't know about?

[Christine Brown]

We had, like, spiritual marriage, so I wasn't leaving. So mine is different from Janelle's as far as our path goes and stuff. So we both were spiritually married. So in our church, there was a religious feeling that we had. So once it was time for me to leave, and. And, you know, you don't know you have to leave until you know you have to leave. And then at that point, I was like, okay, I've just got to go. And so for me, it was a spiritual journey as far as praying to God and making sure he was okay with me leaving. And. And that was going to be fine. It was going and traveling to North Carolina and talking to Maddie and saying, if I leave your dad, am I still going to have access to your children? And she's like, you're always going to be their own. I'm like, okay, that's good. So, like, all the grandkids are ours. Mine and Janelle's. They're all ours. And so it was talking to her and making sure she would be okay with it. And then I just told all of the adults that I was going to be lead, that I was leaving Cody. And then I just decided, like, I kicked him out of my room, my bedroom. I just told him I didn't want him to be in my bed anymore. He didn't really want to be in there. I didn't want him in there. And I only wanted someone in my bed that loved me, that was, at that time, me. So I kicked him out. And that's the day I consider my official divorce. Because you can't really have an official divorce. There's no paperwork.

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[Oliver Hudson]

How does everyone take that situation? Do you have to confer, you know? Or are you on your own and say, no, this is the way I feel and I respect the way that everyone else might feel in their opinions. But you know, I am. I have free will and, and I don't want to be in this anymore.

[Janelle Brown]

That's pretty much it. I think. You just, I mean you can decide and then it's really up to you to decide, I think, what steps you want to take. So Mary actually went ahead and did the steps and went to the. The church that we were married in and. And had the official release. Do you know what I mean? She actually did the official thing. I really haven't. My marriage is over. I've. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not really interested in getting married again or even really dating at this stage. So I'm not even thinking about, like, huh, what do I need to do? Because I'm just like, I am over. I am done. I love my single life. And, you know, if that. If something presents itself in the future, then I'll consider what I need to do. Do you know what I mean?

[Christine Brown]

So, you know something? That was cool, Oliver. When I told everybody that I was leaving, Janelle called me and she's like, okay, you know, we've all known that you've been struggling with Cody for years and everything like that, but she came over and she's like, what does that mean for us? You know, as far as sister wives go with our relationship? She's like, I've raised. We've raised kids together, so what does that mean? And I'm like, we're just going to continue doing what we're doing. We're just going to continue in the relationships that we have. I'm close to Janelle. I wasn't close to Mary and Robins. I wasn't going to stay close to them. But then Janelle and I went to Disneyland together. We took our youngest with us. She took Savannah. I took Truly, and the four of us went. And I think on that trip, for me, I realized, oh, Janelle's still my sister wife. She's always going to be my sister wife. Even though we're both not married to Cody, we're just going to be sister wives, and we're going to be in each other's lives for the rest of our lives. We have kids, we've raised together. We have grandkids together, and we're just going to keep doing things and hanging out. And I just got home a couple days ago from hanging out with her, and we're just going to stay in each other's lives.

[Janelle Brown]

It's a good thing. I like David. It's a good thing. I like your new husband.

[Christine Brown]

I'm really glad.

[Oliver Hudson]

Really?

[Janelle Brown]

Well, I'm glad he likes me, too. You know what he does.

[Christine Brown]

We're going to go on trips together. We're going to keep traveling together.

[Oliver Hudson]

So. So then going, going backwards, going way, way, way back. I mean, obviously you guys were born into the religion that you're in, right?

[Janelle Brown]

No, no, I was.

[Oliver Hudson]

No, you were not. Okay. You were not. Okay. And, and what about you, Chris? What about you, Christine? Were you born?

[Christine Brown]

I was. I had two moms. My dad married my other mom when I was five.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay.

[Christine Brown]

I wore a burgundy dress. My mom put my hair in curlers the night before. And I remember her wedding day really, really well.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay. And then Janelle, you were not born into it.

[Janelle Brown]

No. So I grew up in the mainstream LDS church because they are separate. Okay. And it wasn't. I wasn't. I was probably in my. I was probably like 22, 23 when I finally really seriously considered the fundamentalist branch or the fundamentalist faith. So.

[Oliver Hudson]

And explain that a little bit. You know, I know that probably a lot of people have seen the show and followed your guys story and understand. I mean, to be fair, I haven't really. But it's just, it's interesting to me. In my intro, you know, I did my own little old song and dance, but then I just talked about, you know, the human condition and how we're all different and how we all need and want and experience different things and there are different things that make us happy, you know, until they don't, and then you move on to something else, you know. Now when you are in a situation, whether it be what you guys are in or you know, a job or whatever, where you're feeling like you want out and there's restrictions there, but you can't, that's one thing. But if it's all of free will, then shit, man, like do whatever the hell you want to do, you know what I'm saying? That's my personal feeling about just life in general. Obviously, Christine, you grew up in this. This is what you've learned, it's what you've seen. But just take me through the fundamentalist sort of ideas of what this is, of what polygamy is, of what multiple wives are, of sister wives, of all of it. Like what is the sort of, you know, gospel behind it?

[Janelle Brown]

Sure.

[Christine Brown]

So we can both talk on that one. Janelle's good at numbers and everything in history, remembering all of that. But basically the beginning of the Mormon Church, back when Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church or LDS Church, really one of the tenets of faith that he felt like he was inspired to live was plural marriage and continue and live plural marriage himself, which is Plural marriage, just having more than one wife. And then, you know, that trickled down through the presidency and through the members. And it's just, if you look in, like, the scriptural references, as far as living plural marriage goes, it just talks about it. So, you know, it's what you believe and will get you to the highest degree in the celestial kingdom, which is, you know, heaven. And. And it helps you be a better person. It helps, like, rough off the round edges. And it's not something I believe in anymore anymore at all. I don't plan on living it again. It's not. It doesn't fit with me anymore. But I have siblings who live it, and they all thrive and they're doing really well. Some. Some are doing well, some are not. But, you know, just because life is life. And so it's just one of the tenets of the faith of the fundamentalist Mormon Church. LDS Church does not practice plural marriage at all.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay, got it.

[Janelle Brown]

Really, truly. I mean, it really is simply like every faith has a. A way to enlightenment. Right? Like, it's. It's really. You have to get over yourself. A man has to expand his capacity. A woman has to learn her own value. I mean, there's. It's like, it's. It's a. It's a pathway. It's a pathway to progression. So, I mean, that's not the only part of the faith. There's a lot of other parts of the faith, but that is one of the. That's the biggest tenet that separates us from the mainstream LDS churches. We still practice or church. I mean, I'm not really a member anymore, but that church practices plural marriage.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay. And so, and, And Janelle, are you. Are you out of it like Christine is?

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah. I mean, I. I still. I still have very much. I still have a very close relationship with God. I still am very prayerful, and I'm still a very religious person, but I am not in the faith anymore. No, I mean, I still. I still actually hold most of the LDS beliefs, but I am not in the plural. I'm not in the fundamentalist.

[Oliver Hudson]

And what does it look like to sort of that I.

[Janelle Brown]

You just don't go anymore?

[Oliver Hudson]

You don't go and you're not. Do you lose friends? Do you lose family members?

[Janelle Brown]

You know, being a. Being sort of a convert at a later age, I really didn't know a lot of people. I still am very close to all of my family that practices still. Like, I still. A lot of Cody's family, actually. I'm still Very close to, you know, So I. I haven't really lost anybody and not really.

[Christine Brown]

You know, my favorite thing happens when I was at Costco the other day because that's where you meet up with everybody is Costco. And there was a whole, like a group met me. So it was a man and he had two wives with him and then a couple of their kids. And it was the entire range of emotion, all of it, you guys, it was crazy. So some of them were completely like, christine, there you are. It's been forever and I miss you and la, la, la. And here's a hug and. And, you know, picking up right where he left off. And other people were kind of like. One of them was very uncomfort. They're like, oh, what do we do with her? And she's left now. Does that mean that we can, you know, how is that? Does she hate polygamy? Does she. Is she not going to like me because she left? And maybe she's bitter or maybe she's angry about it or she, you know, maybe she's left religion in general. And I don't know where I stand. So. But everybody. It was like from the. And then one was visibly uncomfortable and I'm like, okay. It was. It was lovely. So you get all ranges of emotion with, you know, acceptance, not understanding, absolute like, well, I think we're done. That kind of a thing. Just because you are leaving. I was leaving something that I knew all of my life, but then I realized it just wasn't going to fit me anymore. I felt it was too controlling for me. And I told Cody. One of the great things that I really appreciate about Cody, like in the church, you wear garments like in the. In the lds. And I took mine off and I told Cody I wasn't going to wear them anymore. And he goes, well, how is your relationship with God? I said, it's fine. God doesn't care if I wear them. I mean, for me, God doesn't care that I wear them. He goes, okay, that's fine. Then he didn't care. Yeah, he didn't raise it. He was like, it's your relationship with God that's the most important thing. And that's what he always taught our kids. And I really appreciated that because it was a. It is. What you do is you need to have your own personal relationship, you know, with God. You shouldn't have to have an ecclesiastical authority. And so I really appreciated that. Believing takes a while too. It's not like suddenly you're done. It was like a Trickling away and it was like gone away in pieces. There were certain things I just didn't believe in anymore. I couldn't make them fit into paradigm of understanding the world. We met after we went public. Oh, my gosh, we met the most amazing people. And so many different walks of life and faiths and. And I'm like, these people are amazing and their relationship with God is just as strong as mine.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. And. But when did you. But when did you start to realize that? You know what I mean? Like, you.

[Christine Brown]

Like when. Yeah, when I started questioning, like my.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, you know, when you're. Even when you're 18, 19 years old, I mean, that's when sort of your brain is moving. You're. You're sort of stepping outside of. Of what you've been, what is learned, you know, and you start to sort of establish your own sort of thoughts and feelings and ideas, you know, Our brain, I don't think is fully developed until we're in our mid-20s, you know, from a. Just a biological standpoint.

[Janelle Brown]

You know, it's so interesting because I actually chose the faith at 22, 23. For me, it was a very. It was a very logical choice for me. And I never really felt like plural marriage was very controlling. I actually felt very independent. I felt like I had a lot of freedom. And I think really is about what you make of it, right. Whether you choose to embrace who you are and be strong in who you are and be independent and live a life, or if you sit around kind of comparing or pining or whatever, you know, for, you know, I don't know, like, I just felt like it was very independent.

[Oliver Hudson]

Were you in the church, though, Janelle, like, before you found at 22, like, where were you, like, from 0 to 22?

[Janelle Brown]

So I was in the LDS Church. That is, my family practically disowned me when I joined the fundamentalist faith because, you know, that was not done. That was definitely not done. And so they were very upset with me. So it isn't really something that's embraced in the LDS Church, the mainstream LDS Church. So, I mean, for me, it was a choice. I felt very called to live the life, and I found a lot of independence and freedom.

[Oliver Hudson]

What drew you to. To the fundamental side of things?

[Janelle Brown]

I've always been someone who very much sought to do what God, what would bring me closer to God. And I really felt like that was what this was, was a. Was just. It was a devotion. It was a devotional thing for me.

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[Oliver Hudson]

Now that you have sort of moved beyond that side of this. Not to say that you don't have maybe even a stronger relationship with God. Like when you reflect back on the reasons you did join. Yeah, now you're an older, you know, woman who can reflect, how do you speak to that younger person?

[Janelle Brown]

Do you know, I'm actually really, really grateful. And this is one thing Christine and I have really talked about is we're so grateful for our experience. I personally am very grateful for the growth that I experienced. Beginning to be very confident in who I was, knowing who I was, knowing my own strengths and not feeling like I had to always measure up against somebody else. But then we also had this tremendous family experience that I never would have had without a big plural family. So I'm really grateful for that, really, truly. And Christina and I both said, you know, we wouldn't go back and change anything because what we have now is really great.

[Oliver Hudson]

Oh, of course. I mean, I think, you know, just forget, forgetting about, forget about religion or anything really. I mean, I've been asked that question too, just interviews. I'm very open about my, my life and the things that I've gone through and the anxieties that I've had. And, you know, there's been infidelity in my relationships that has been, you know, dealt with through just internal, just, just sort of self expression, self realization. I wouldn't change a thing, actually. I got dinged and not dinged, but it was picked up in the newspapers like Oliver Hudson wouldn't change a thing. And, and I'm like, well, of course not, because I'm happy with who I am. I am happy with sort of my philosophies on life and the things that I have gone through, the character building experiences, the pain, the having to sort of navigate all of that. I don't know who I'd be without it. So why would I change it?

[Janelle Brown]

You know, I think we're the sum of our. We're the sum of our parts. Right. I feel like you always, like you become richer, a richer person as you go through life experiences and some of them are not so great. Right.

[Christine Brown]

But it does make you who you are.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. I mean, now if I was, if I was a completely screwed up individual and on drugs and in a gutter somewhere, then maybe I would want to change something, you know what I'm saying? But.

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, right, right.

[Oliver Hudson]

You know, but I fought. I always fight. I'm always fighting. You're always fighting. You know who you are and your own psychology and educating yourself and it's a forever process, you know what I'm saying? Which is the beauty.

[Christine Brown]

It's a constant progression. There was one time that I have to tell you, when I was leaving and I was just so still frustrated. And so I remember just saying, I don't think I even like polygamy more blah. Blah, blah to Janelle. And she's like, wait a minute, wait a minute. She's like, come on, you living plural marriage is the reason why you can do so many things you can do. She's like, I'll never forget how you just did the whole irrigation system by yourself in Wyoming. You know, how you, you know, did all of these things. You did things all the time. You could just pick up and leave and you could go. And the independence that you learn and that you found is something. That's who you are. And it's like I decided at that point, same as you're saying, like, realize that this is all a path and this is all a journey. And there's some memories that I make sure they stay special and they stay good days. And I never let anything like negative or anything like that just creep in. You just have a lot of gosh, we have so many good, wonderful memories with our family and where it's brought us and with our kids being as tight as they are. I mean, it's, it's absolutely awesome.

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, look, actually, none of our children have embraced the faith. I mean, they are all doing their own thing.

[Oliver Hudson]

That was going to be a later question, but now that you're not now, now that you're bringing into it, like, how about all the kids? Like, where are they at with all this?

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, we really did raise them to, to really disperse and foremost have a good relationship with God. And I think they all have sort of found their path. Some are not even really big believers of God. And that's okay. We're all, still, we all have this foundational family and it doesn't really matter what everybody thinks or believes. You know, everybody is very different. They're all on a whole spectrum.

[Oliver Hudson]

I love that.

[Janelle Brown]

And I, I love it because we still get all together and we still have so much fun and we just, we celebrate the things that are in common, which are lots of things. So.

[Christine Brown]

Well, it seems like our biggest goal, it was about getting a development with God, but then it was also become a productive person, productive citizen. Make sure you have a sense of purpose and you have a direction. And so it was all that too. Like, have a sense of purpose. Have some place that you're always moving towards, you're always bettering yourself, always looking at people like, like with a way to understand them, you know. Lovely. Having four, like so many different parents, I think really helped our kids to kind of fine tune because you have all those special conversations with each of the kids. So they learn from all of Us and all of our parenting styles. I mean, I learned things from my other mom that were totally invaluable, and I'm so grateful that she's always been in my life.

[Oliver Hudson]

Here's what's interesting, though, you know, going down that path a little bit is that, you know, I have three kids. You know, I have one wife. Obviously, you know, you have to be on the same page. There's a fundamental belief on how you want to raise your kids, but how you get to that place sometimes can be different, very different. And just in relationships and single relationships in general, it's the. Don't you undermine me. Or. Or, you know, like, I told him no, and now you're telling him yes. I mean, there's so. There are so. There are so. So many sort of disconnects in parenting. I mean, imagine when you have a thousand parents, like, how do you. How do you. How do you deal with that? Where it's like, wait a minute. I. This is. I do it this way. And you might do it this way, but then he does it this way, but then she does it that way. I mean, it could be a web of insanity.

[Janelle Brown]

Well, I think that we always sort of respected everybody. Everybody had their biological children, right. And so it kind of had a culture in their little families, but then there was some. A big general culture that we sort of just had to mesh our cultures. Christmas traditions, holiday traditions. The way that, like, do. Do kids get to, like. I remember one of the very early ons. Could. Could the kids play in the cupboards, the dishes in the kitchen?

[Christine Brown]

Yeah, we're messes. Okay, what kinds of messes? And how do you fold? And do you care if they even fold anything? You know? But you know what the kids learn, too, is how to navigate parents. You know, how your kids prob. Know who to go to if they have a question and they want to ask a yes, they know who to go to. Oh, yeah. Our kids learn pretty quickly who to get yeses from.

[Oliver Hudson]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Janelle Brown]

And, like, if they want to go do the. The crazy Black Friday shopping, do not sign me up. Christine's where. She's in the car waiting for them at 1:00am or heck, yeah.

[Christine Brown]

With hot cocoa to keep us warm.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. No, no. I mean, you know, my sister has three kids, and I have three kids, and. And, you know, all the cousins are, like, best friends, but. But she does it totally differently than I do. She looks at the way that I raise my kids, and she's like, jesus, man, you are too lenient. You let Them watch like horror movies at the age of three. I mean, you know, I curse in front of my kids. You know, I. I'll drink in front of my kids. I used to smoke cigarettes. Smoke. I. I'm going to be me in front of my children. I'm not going to hide anything. Now can you do it?

[Christine Brown]

It.

[Oliver Hudson]

Can you say bad words? Am I an example to you right now? No, of course not. I'm not your role model yet. This is who I am. I'm an adult. When you become an adult or when you get to be older, then you can make these choices. But I'm not going to sneak around. I mean, I think that's almost worse than them knowing out front they're going to find it. They're going to see, they're going to see the booze, they're going to see the cigarettes. And for me to go outside, smoke a cigarette or whatever, like coming like hey. And stink of cigarettes.

[Christine Brown]

Well, it's a level of teaching them respect. Right.

[Oliver Hudson]

There's a word of respect where my sister's like, what? You're crazy. I would, you know all that. You know, so it's. Which is different. You know, we just do it differently.

[Christine Brown]

I was definitely more pious like before.

[Janelle Brown]

Oh, some.

[Christine Brown]

I, yeah, I.

[Janelle Brown]

My kids have some funny stories.

[Oliver Hudson]

Oh yeah.

[Janelle Brown]

Christine was very black and white.

[Christine Brown]

Very black women. I believe that you should raise kids black and white. So for me it was like hard at PG13 was when you're 13.

[Oliver Hudson]

13.

[Janelle Brown]

And my kids benefited. They really did benefit from, you know, and who knows.

[Christine Brown]

And some kids I'm sure look back and they're super bitter. But I have to tell you why. I watched the Conjuring with Truly just a couple days ago and it was terrifying and awesome.

[Oliver Hudson]

It's one of the best horror. One of the best. One of my favorites. We're a horror buff, our family. I've seen every horror movie. Conjuring is my one of my top now.

[Christine Brown]

I saw it in the airplane. Mind you, with the screen this big on the back of it. It.

[Janelle Brown]

That's all that might be less scary.

[Christine Brown]

Yeah. That was amazing. So I've come a long way because horror was certainly not allowed in my home and.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah.

[Christine Brown]

And everything. So it's. It's. You change too, as an adult. I think it's important to teach your kids too. Is that change is okay?

[Oliver Hudson]

Yes, yes, yes. Yeah.

[Janelle Brown]

And to see the differences in personality and stuff in the spectrum of adults, I think actually gave our kids a pretty good tool. They gave it. Gave them a Tool some tools going into real life because you're going to meet all these different personalities. Like I've had, had my kids have come home and had bosses that were very rigid and strict and like they had. And Mary is very much like, she's very, she's very rigid, she's very strict. And so they had dealt with that and they're like, oh, okay, I know how to do this, you know.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I love what you guys said where it's like, look, we're going to, you know, show them a path that I was on that we believe in, not was. Are now currently with your relationship with God and if you choose to, you know, follow it, great. If you don't believe in God, it's great. I love you. I mean, you do whatever you want to do. I mean, it's a beautiful way to sort of do it because I have a lot of friends, well, not a lot, but a lot. Two or three friends who were raised in a extremely God fearing place and it screwed them up. At the end of the day, they've come out of it, but they had to go through a lot because they were, you know, essentially disowned sometimes if they didn't believe what your parents believed, you know.

[Christine Brown]

Yeah, that's hard. That's sad to me. I like that our kids are so individual and they've all chosen different things and oh my gosh, I've learned so many things from. And then it's, it's just amazing all the things that they've learned about life and the different people they've met and the walks of faith that they have and. No, I really feel blessed that we were able to set up our family like we did. That kind of just kind of fell into place. But we did have discussions about back in Wyoming where we did decide, you know, do we want our kids to live plural marriage? It was like, no, I think that we just want them to have a good relationship with God. And that was at the very, very beginning of all. Even though we taught them, I don't know, try to teach them by example, I guess and things like that. But it definitely, definitely changed. So just grateful that they are. They're just good people. They treat people with kindness.

[Oliver Hudson]

Are any of them wanting to follow in that sort of plural marriage path?

[Christine Brown]

No, no, no, no. That's death first.

[Oliver Hudson]

Do you think social media and, and sort of the connectivity of the world through technology now has changed a little bit of that?

[Christine Brown]

I don't think it's technology. I don't think it's technology. I think it's that we weren't in the faith anymore. We lived in Vegas, and for all of those years, instead of our kids hanging out with other polygamous children, they hung out with kids that were everybody else, the whole open world. So I think because we expose them and ourselves to more people that lived outside of, you know, whatever the fundamentalist faith, that that's the reason why that happened, too. I think we just showed them a whole broader world. So for them, they just got to see a broader picture. But then also, we do believe that there should be a calling that you do feel to live in any religion, to be a part of any religion, and none of them have the calling to even be a member of the church we were previously at.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah.

[Janelle Brown]

You know, one thing I am glad we do have a very much more open world. Right. We do now. And we've definitely had a much bigger life. I feel like our children have for sure. You know, one reason that we originally went public was to sort of expand people's ideas of what plural marriage was. You know what I mean? Like, we. There was a. It was the train wrecks making the news, right? And we were looking at ourselves and we're like, wow, this isn't really us anymore. You know what I mean? Like, this isn't really us. And so we really did. It was very scary for us to go public because everybody was very afraid.

[Christine Brown]

Our.

[Janelle Brown]

Our community was very afraid that we would somehow out them and they would. We would bring the law down on them or whatever. But I am really grateful that we've had that experience and we've been able to share with people. And granted, it's. It's sort of a train wreck now, but, hey, that's normal family life, right? That's normal family life. Like you said yourself, relationships evolve and change. And we're doing it, obviously now in a very public forum, and we're seeing all the nitty gritty and the mean things that you say to each other when a relationship is ending or whatever.

[Christine Brown]

Oh, my gosh.

[Janelle Brown]

Like, we're real people, right? And I think that's what we set out to show was that we're just real people who've made a choice to live a little bit differently. And it isn't always about control, and it isn't always about having to wear a certain dress or having to. You know, we really wanted to show that we were real people. And I. And even as rough as it is, we are now still showing that.

[Christine Brown]

With.

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[Oliver Hudson]

Getting to that point, you know, you guys are strong females, strong women. You know what I mean? I don't quite you can explain sort of understand the role of the female in that fundamentalist world. But you know, would you consider, first of all, would you consider yourself feminists? Not in the extreme sense of the.

[Christine Brown]

Word, definitely okay, so definitely, we believe, like, yeah, absolutely.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay, so take. Take that part of it. Are you. Are you newfound feminists, or do you think you've been a feminist from the beginning? And then if you have, like, how do you square sort of the female role in that fundamental world with. With sort of how you kind of feel on the inside and how you maybe have acquiesced to parts of it that. That were against your morality as a female.

[Janelle Brown]

So I've always considered myself a feminist, which. Meaning that women could do anything, any job or anything, have any opportunity that a man could have. And I also sort of felt like I could be very independent and fun. And so plural marriage allowed me to function within a marriage and have a family and still be very independent. For me, that was the idea, ideal merge of the two worlds, a feminist world as well, as I really did want to have a family, and I really did want to have that partnership with a spouse. And so for me, I feel like I've just even continued to grow in my independence. I have an independence that I didn't even comprehend I could have when I was 22, 23, and in tandem with having a family. So to me, I feel like I've had it all. I've had the best of both worlds. I've had career, I've raised family. I have a beautiful family, and I have a lot of professional opportunity, and I sort of feel like I've got it all, Like, I've got everything now. Do you know what I mean?

[Oliver Hudson]

Were you ever, like, in the moment thinking, well, this is bullshit, Like, I don't want to wear this, or this is not, you know, I mean, internally resisting.

[Janelle Brown]

We didn't ever have anything that we had to wear. We wore regular clothes. Do you know what I mean? That was one of the reasons we went public was to show that, you know, hey, I don't have to wear the dress, I don't have to wear the hair that's not part of it. That some sort of weird dogma that has crept in to some of the sex. You know what I mean? And so that was. We were really out to show that we were just regular people.

[Christine Brown]

I was definitely the same thing, a feminist from the very beginning. I mean, even watching my grandmas and how strong and independent they were, and they could do everything and anything. And I got to watch my moms be so strong, and they could do everything and anything you wanted to do. And then I got married and. And really whatever I wanted to do, I just learned how to do. If Something needed to be fixed, I fixed it. If something needed to be done, I did it. And you just learn how to be strong and independent and stand up for yourself and fight for yourself. And I, I mean, I always would tell my kids, like, definition of gentleman, definition of a lady. They're both the exact same thing. They're just making sure that everybody in the room is comfortable. So as far as feminism goes, I think it's my job to make sure that everyone is accepted and everyone is accepted at their level, where they're. I think that's true. Feminism is, is realizing we all have a power within us that needs to be heard and needs to be valued and maybe not understood, but it still needs to be heard.

[Oliver Hudson]

And you never felt that that power was, you know, sort of being suffocated in any way?

[Janelle Brown]

Not, not in my experience.

[Christine Brown]

Not for you. Some days for me, I was like, you know, I don't know if I'm necessarily being treated. To me, it was a thing of equality. And so I felt like I wasn't being treated as an equal. I wasn't as a, as a wife. I felt that for the last several years of being married to Cody, I didn't feel like. So I felt in our family, sometimes I was a second class wife and that was very frustrating to me. Very frustrating.

[Oliver Hudson]

That's interesting, you know, because then there, then, you know, it all sounds great and. But then there, that comparison starts to happen when you have sort of, you know, multiple wives or people in those relationships. Like you're getting more attention than you. And.

[Christine Brown]

Well, I felt like coaching was comparing. I feel, I feel like comparing starting with Cody, not.

[Oliver Hudson]

That's what I mean. That's what I mean.

[Christine Brown]

I couldn't. I. There's no way I'm going to be a wife like Robin and don't sign me up for that. I'm not going to do what you want me to do all the time or whatever she did. I don't know exactly. Yeah, but I'm going to be me, you know, and so that, I mean, I just feel like it was a lot of comparing that happened and there was a pedestal that was. I'm not, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. So I'm not going to conform my life to what you want me to be. I'm going to conform my life to what I want me to be.

[Oliver Hudson]

Well, I also think, you know, human nature is when you have a group of people in general, like you're going to gravitate towards one more than the other. I'm not talking about just in. In your situation, but just in a group of people. Like, there's a connection. There's a chemistry that happens when you have multiple wives. I'm sure that that's just a natural thing where you are gravitating more towards.

[Christine Brown]

Yeah, but you're not supposed to do that, Oliver. Not a plural marriage.

[Oliver Hudson]

I know, but isn't that. But isn't. But isn't that human? Sort of like just feeling really, truly.

[Janelle Brown]

So a woman comes in and she. Her. Her role is to kind of. Of learn her value and learn how to be independent. All that. He actually is failing if he is allowing one relationship to be more significant the other. That is the man's challenge in living plural marriage. They have to expand their capacity emotionally. Look, most guys don't really want to sign me up. Don't sign me up. They. They all think, like, the great. The sex is all great. Like, I get, you know, but. But like, there's an emotional component that comes along when you're. When you're having multiple families. You have to meet the needs of the wives and your children. So he was failing when he. When he. He was failing the standard when that started to happen. So interesting. So he.

[Christine Brown]

That was his.

[Janelle Brown]

That was a failure on his part.

[Oliver Hudson]

Right, right. And. And. And how does that, you know, are with you guys? But just in general, I mean, you know, as far as intimacy goes or just even connectivity goes, I mean, is there. Does it. Is there jealousy that happens, you know, within the groups?

[Christine Brown]

You know, I didn't feel jealous too much. I didn't really feel jealous before Robin, before Cody married Robin. I feel like what they had was a true soulmate relationship. And I really felt like he started to focus so much on Robin and her kids. So for me, I didn't get jealous until then. And then suddenly when your needs are being met and like, when his capacity wasn't growing anymore to, you know, be there for all of us, I feel like that's when jealousy really started to creep in.

[Oliver Hudson]

Got it.

[Christine Brown]

And for me, and before that didn't matter before, I'm like, everyone's needs are being met. I think they're fine.

[Oliver Hudson]

And even. Even the intimate part of it, it's not. Doesn't matter. Like, it's just part of the. Part of the deal. There's no jealousy when it comes to that stuff.

[Janelle Brown]

Well, you're not comparing notes, and you're definitely not everybody's.

[Christine Brown]

You don't talk about all of that.

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, everybody's relationship is very separate.

[Oliver Hudson]

No, I know, but like with my wife, when I first met her, most men don't want to know anything. I'm different. I'm like, I want to know every dude you've been with.

[Janelle Brown]

With.

[Oliver Hudson]

I want to know every detail because I don't want to run into this guy, you know, Like, I. But I'm sort of like a jealous. Ish person.

[Janelle Brown]

Yeah, no, we respect the sanctity of that marriage. Boundaries. You know what I mean? So.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay, well, that's great. I mean, but, you know, you gotta. There's got to be chat behind the camera's cut.

[Janelle Brown]

No, never. No, because I just. I didn't feel like that was my business and I didn't feel like it would be helpful to know, so I didn't really care.

[T Mobile Ad]

Like, I was.

[Christine Brown]

We had four separate marriages and we kept them separate as far as the.

[Janelle Brown]

We might. About something Cody did. Like, oh, hell yeah. He went out and bought that car, right?

[Oliver Hudson]

Come on.

[Christine Brown]

The luggage rack, Janelle, the luggage rack. There were definitely things that we would bitch out about. Yeah.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. Well, this has been amazing. Like, I could talk to you guys forever. It's just so fascinating.

[Janelle Brown]

Thank you. We've appreciated it.

[Oliver Hudson]

No, I really, it's amazing. And, and I love, love, you know, to sort of see how strong you guys are and, you know, how independent you are and sort of turning the, you know, just the idea of what this is on its head, you know, to watch and to see how these experiences have made you who you are and have created these strong ass women who are living their lives at the way that they want to live it right now.

[Janelle Brown]

That's what I want my motto to be a strong ass woman who's living her life, you know?

[Oliver Hudson]

No, it's true. I mean, it's so. It's so. It's so great. I mean, it's it's just awesome to, To. To have this chat, you know, and then. So the show is out, right? The season is out.

[Christine Brown]

It's airing right now.

[Oliver Hudson]

It's airing right now. Y.

[Christine Brown]

Every Sunday, Sunday night on tlc.

[Oliver Hudson]

Okay. And. And. And you want to f. Okay, real quick. And then we'll go. But like, I didn't get into this. How did this even happen? How did the TV show even come about?

[Christine Brown]

Yes. So I was in a group of people that were in charge of spreading. Spreading polygamy awareness, basically. And someone reached out to me through that group and then I'm like. Then they hooked him up with Cody and he was Our. He ended up being our producer for years and years and years. But we all sat down and we talked, and he's like, I want to do a documentary on your family. And we're like, that won't work. If you do a documentary and you open up our family, we're going to all lose our jobs. Our kids are going to be bullied in school. We can't do that. It was a felony back then. So we're like, we'd have to it be a series. And so he. He became our producer and one of our very good friends for years. So he took it and he found tlc and they partnered with us. And it's for that first time when we were sitting there in this room with all these TLC executives and executives in, like the. In like reality television. They showed our pilot, and there we are, just these. Just this small family who were so scared of the whole outside world. And they showed our family there on a big screen with all of these strangers. And at the end, everyone went totally.

[Janelle Brown]

It was silent silence.

[Christine Brown]

And then they started clapping. And we're like. It was hard. It was super scary to go public. It was really hard because the whole outside world is a scary thing. But I feel like what's come from it, the understanding that people have now towards plural marriage, but then also realizing that we're just like that. Them and everybody. It seems like every woman that I meet associates with one of us and identifies with one of us.

[Oliver Hudson]

Well, because I think when you hear, you know, when you hear plural marriage, when you hear polygamy, it's. It's immediately the connotation is a dude with a bunch of women and he's having his way and he's.

[Janelle Brown]

He.

[Oliver Hudson]

He's, you know, lording over them. And that. That. That's the. Just the idea when. Without even understanding the reality and the truth of it, you know, so there's a nice expose that you guys were able to do. Say, no, no, no, no, no.

[Christine Brown]

Right. Good call.

[Janelle Brown]

But we also just. If I can really quickly get through our efforts, and especially we have some very dear friends who worked very hard, hand in hand with the legislature in Utah, polygamy was decriminalized. So everybody is not nearly as afraid. They can come out of the shadows, they can live openly. And that is really huge. As far as some of the things, you know, that the community was stumbling with, that's great.

[Oliver Hudson]

I mean, why. Why. Why make that a federal? Why make that a felony?

[Christine Brown]

I mean, it's lovely that it's too Criminalized now. Yeah.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. All right. One last question. Would you. What about switching it up where you get to have four husbands?

[Janelle Brown]

Oh, too damn. Too much work.

[Christine Brown]

No, thanks.

[Janelle Brown]

Don't sign me up.

[Christine Brown]

You have to realize the husband we were previously married to is a lot of work. No, I'm a monogamist through and through. I love David, and I'm so glad that I found him. And I have no interest in marrying anybody. And I love monogamy so much.

[Oliver Hudson]

Good. And then Janelle, obviously not the four. That's kind of a joke. But, you know, what's your. What is your 10 years? In 10 years, like, do you want to be married again? Do you want to. Are you happy being single? Are you just having a good time?

[Janelle Brown]

Really, really happy being single? I'm not even dating. Christine and David are always like, you really should sign up for some of those things. You should really, like, meet people. And I'm like, know. I don't know, like, a lot of work. So, you know, maybe, but it will have to happen organically for me. I'm probably not going to go looking for it.

[Oliver Hudson]

I know. By the way, that's the best way to go, you know?

[Janelle Brown]

I hope so.

[Christine Brown]

I don't know. I. I looked for it, I went out there, I did the whole app thing.

[Janelle Brown]

Oh, good for you, David. Like, you found David. And that's great.

[Oliver Hudson]

Amazing.

[Janelle Brown]

It's like, if it happens, it happens, you know?

[Oliver Hudson]

So if it's not a priority, then why make it a priority?

[Janelle Brown]

Until it becomes a lot of things going on.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. When it becomes a priority and they're like, you have that burn, like, I want someone. I need someone. I want love. I want to feel loved. I want to love someone. Then you'll do it?

[Janelle Brown]

I think so. I think so.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, this has been amazing. Thank you, guys. Thanks.

[Christine Brown]

Thank you.

[Oliver Hudson]

I really loved having this conversation. It was really fun for me.

[Christine Brown]

Thanks.

[Janelle Brown]

Thanks.

[Christine Brown]

It was great. It was a pleasure. Thank you so much, Oliver. Thank you for your time.

[Oliver Hudson]

Yes, thank you.

[Janelle Brown]

Bye.

[Oliver Hudson]

Later, guys.

[Janelle Brown]

Bye.

[Christine Brown]

Bye.

[Oliver Hudson]

Wow. Totally changed my, you know, my opinion. I. I guess. I mean, I was probably one of those people who thought, oh, you know, polygamy, plural marriage, you have this sort of idea of what it is. I haven't seen the show, so I probably asked a lot of questions that have been answered a million times over in the show. But watching them from episode. Season one, episode one till now, now, I mean, I'm sure it's night and day, that journey, you know, from where they were to where they are now not to say where they were, was anything negative. I mean, as we talked about it, they gained so much experience and built so much character through what it is that they went through, and now they are who they are. But, I mean, it's pretty, pretty cool. Maybe I'll think about it. You know, I'm gonna talk to Aaron. I'm gonna talk to Aaron tonight and see if maybe we can't get into this plural thing. You know, the way I'm gonna pitch it is like this. Look, babe, this has nothing to do with other women, okay? And me. This is more about you and creating a sisterhood and, and, you know, this is, you know, it's going to be great. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. Anyway. All right, I'm leaving. Bye.

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