Sister Wives star Janelle Brown has been the subject of massive, months-long speculation over whether she’d “move east,” and the lack of clarity around where she planned to live seems to have been intentional.
Janelle and her now-ex Kody Brown are “no longer together” as of December 2022 — which is also the case with pretty much every one of Kody’s wives except for Robyn.
As far back as May 5, Sister Wives fans speculated that Janelle had either already moved or planned to move to North Carolina, based on her Instagram activity:
Janelle has endured a horrific 2024, after the sudden and tragic death of her son Garrison on March 5.
On March 12, fans spotted Janelle visiting her daughter Maddie Brown, who moved to North Carolina in 2022, and inferred that the family was grieving together, nothing more.
On the May 5 post, Sister Wives fans interpreted Janelle’s Instagram posts from North Carolina similarly, suspecting Janelle and her children wished to spend time together in their time of grief:
“I don’t think so. According to her posting, she’s been traveling around while still going back to Flagstaff from time to time. She’s been spending a lot of time with Maddie and her grandkids in NC. They said they were going to do a lot of gardening this spring, but then the tragedy happened. So that must have put that on hold until now.”
“Spending time gardening with her daughter and grandkids sounds like a good way to cope. I feel for her.”
Given the immense loss endured by the Brown family (and Janelle in particular), fans weren’t sure if she was just spending time with her kids in North Carolina, or prepping to move to be closer to them because she and Kody were no longer together.
Janelle’s Big Move Was A Big Secret
Although Janelle’s social media posts seemed to suggest she spent most of July traveling, a few scattered details pointed to a looming move.
On July 16, we reported that Mykelti Brown Padron, Christine Brown’s daughter, was about to move to North Carolina — amid what seemed to be a larger trend among Kody’s children (as well as his former wives, apparently):
“Mykelti Brown and her husband, Tony Padron, are gearing up for a big move from Utah to North Carolina later this month [of July].
“This transition marks another significant shift for the Brown Family, as they continue to leave their Southwest roots behind and settle in the Tar Heel State.”
A little over a week ago, InTouch Weekly reported that Janelle had purchased a large property (over 150 acres) on March 28:
“Sister Wives star Janelle Brown purchased a $289,000 North Carolina property nearly two years after her split from Kody Brown, In Touch can exclusively confirm.
“Janelle, 55, made the 156-acre purchase in Chocowinity, North Carolina, on March 28, according to documents exclusively obtained by In Touch. The property is listed as agricultural.”
The timing of the purchase alone spoke to the likely reason behind Janelle’s decision — less than two weeks after the loss of her son, she bought property close to other Brown family members, and her daughter Maddie.
InTouch obtained documents confirming the purchase, but even that wasn’t really an indicator that Janelle was moving to North Carolina permanently.
On July 24, Showbiz Cheat Sheet gleaned confirmation from a video posted by one of the Brown children via Patreon, reporting:
“While Janelle purchased her acreage in March 2024, it was unclear if she lived in the East Coast state or was still residing in Arizona.
“Mykelti and Tony Padron set the record straight during a recent video upload to their Patreon account.
“Tony Padron revealed that Janelle had already moved to North Carolina and that it would be nice to be closer to her ‘household’ once they, too, move states.
“Mykelti tried to quiet her husband, stating that he wasn’t supposed to mention Janelle’s move. She didn’t explain why the move was a secret.”
As the report indicated, the reason for the secrecy behind Janelle’s move was not known — but it’s at least somewhat probable that the development was kept under wraps to avoid spoiling future Sister Wives storylines.
What’s further not clear is whether Kody’s many exes and children were moving to North Carolina, or simply away from him.
Although TLC has yet to confirm the future of Sister Wives, Mykelti has said the show is likely to return in late August or early September of this year.
