By KBC Associate :max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(748x365:750x367)/janelle-brown-SiriusXM-2023-kody-brown-sister-wives-042425-8745617bb0bf45efa540f5c642320eb3.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown Ponders Getting ‘Spiritual Divorce’ from Ex Kody (Exclusive)")
- Janelle and Kody Brown announced their split in December 2022 after 29 years of marriage
- In PEOPLE’s preview of Sister Wives, Janelle reveals the reason she is now considering getting a “spiritual divorce” from Kody
- “I’m not dating, but if I found somebody, I would never want there to be like a weird barrier in my head,” the TLC star says of terminating her marriage
Janelle Brown is having second thoughts about whether or not she should get a “spiritual divorce” from ex Kody Brown.
In PEOPLE’s exclusive sneak peek at the April 26 episode of Sister Wives, Janelle, 55, admits she “never really thought about a spiritual divorce” following her split from Kody, which they announced in December 2022.
“It didn’t even occur to me because [I’m] really not part of that church anymore. And then when Meri got one, I’m like, huh,” she adds, referring to Meri Brown’s decision to terminate her three-decade marriage to Kody.
Her former sister wife Christine Brown — who is now married to David Woolley — shares that she “wasn’t interested” in formally ending her marriage to Kody, explaining, “I didn’t feel the need to get a spiritual divorce. I was at a different spot spiritually. I believe in God and he was great with me leaving. So the conversation with him was good enough for me.”
TLC
In a conversation with Janelle, Meri explains her reason for spiritually divorcing Kody through their church (a.k.a. the Apostolic United Brethren).
“So when I did the legal divorce, I knew that the spiritual part of it was so valid,” she says. “Because if it wasn’t, what was yours? What was Robyn’s? What was Christine’s?”
“I still think it’s valid, so I’m like I don’t want to offend God,” she responds.
Meri then offers to share more insight into her decision — and says she’d go with Janelle to get the spiritual divorce, if needed.
Janelle admits she is considering terminating the marriage for one reason, saying, “I’m not dating, but if I found somebody, I would never want there to be like a weird barrier in my head.”
“I’ve been married for 30 years and it had validity for me,” she adds.
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TLC
Meri explains that “Christine’s perspective on it is why I don’t believe in that faith,” adding, “And I just felt like [my marriage] was valid. I need to actually terminate it. I need to feel like, no, this is done.”
In a confessional, Meri further details her need to terminate the marriage as she saw the union as being of “an eternal nature.”
“I did not want and I knew that he did not want to be stuck in the eternities with me,” she says. “And I felt like that’s what that was and so I needed to let that go.”
TLC
After the conversation, Janelle tells cameras that while she has “kept my faith” and remains in the “realm” of “the LDS or the Mormon doctrines,” one of her beliefs has changed.
“I don’t have to live plural marriage again. I don’t know if I’ll ever even marry again,” she says. “But I’ve kept my faith. All of it’s intact except for that whole plural marriage thing. I don’t know about that.”
“So just so that I’m sure I’m good, if I were to remarry, maybe it’s worth getting a spiritual divorce?” she adds.
Janelle previously told PEOPLE in January 2024 that she did not consider herself “divorced.”
“Because we never were legally married, I can’t really say I’m divorced,” she said after the implosion of Kody’s marriages in 14 months.
She continued, “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.'”
Janelle said she’s always told people that “my partner and I split up” when explaining her relationship status and prefers the term “single.”
“I don’t know,” she continues. “It’s nebulous for me at this point. It depends on who I’m talking to really. I guess I just consider myself single, I don’t consider myself divorced or separated or whatever. I just think I’m single.”
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Sister Wives airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.