BIG SURPRISE! Janelle Brown Reveals Life-Changing News & Fans Are Blindsided
Janelle Brown revealed a new romance in her life.
The 57-year-old Sister Wives star shared on Instagram on Tuesday, Aug. 18, that she has a boyfriend, four years after announcing her split from husband Kody Brown.
“Some chapters are meant to unfold quietly before they’re shared,” Janelle captioned a selfie of her and her new man. “I wasn’t looking. I certainly wasn’t expecting you. And somehow, you turned out to be exactly what I didn’t know I needed. And it has been pretty wonderful.”
She concluded her post, writing, “Everyone please meet Pete.”
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Janelle and her ex, Kody, were spiritually married in 1993 and share six children. She was his second wife after Meri Brown. Following Christine Brown’s decision to leave Kody in 2021, Janelle followed suit in 2022, announcing the end of their nearly 30 years of marriage.
While Christine went on to fully sever ties from Kody and eventually remarry her husband, David Woolley, Janelle remained less committed to moving on in her romantic life.
During a 2023 reunion episode of the TLC reality show, Janelle expressed her inner turmoil regarding her views on her union with Kody.
“I deeply believe in my faith,” she said at the time. “I have been so much at peace that I don’t know how to reconcile that. So that’s where my debate with myself is all the time because I know I’m happy. I don’t want him to come back, but my faith requires that we are married eternally.
Janelle mirrored her internal struggle with labeling her relationship status while speaking with PEOPLE in early 2024, saying, “Because we never were legally married, I can’t really say I’m divorced. I just say ‘I’m no longer with’ [him] when I explain it to outside people. I’m like, ‘I’m no longer with my partner.’ ”
In a February 2025 appearance on the Sibling Revelry podcast, Janelle shut down the idea of opening herself back up to love.
“My marriage is over. I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” she said at the time. “I’m not really interested in getting married again or even really dating at this stage. So I’m not even thinking about, like, ‘Oh, what do I need to do?’ Because I’m just like, I am over [it].”
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In a January 2026 episode of Sister Wives, Janelle revealed that she was granted a “spiritual release” from the marriage from her church, the Apostolic United Brethren.
“I have it,” Janelle said in the episode while holding up the release paper. “That was easy. I thought I was going to have to come back for a second meeting. I am free. I am free. I am free. I am free.”
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After splitting from Kody, Janelle relocated to North Carolina to be close to her and Kody’s daughter, Madison Brush, and her grandchildren.
Janelle and Kody also share kids Logan, 30, Hunter, 28, Gabriel, 23, and Savannah, 20. Their son Garrison died by suicide in 2024.
In addition to Christine and Janelle’s splits from Kody, his first wife, Meri, also ended their marriage in 2023. Robyn Brown, whom he legally married in 2014, remains Kody’s only wife.
