Sister Wives season 19 began on a somber note, paying tribute to the late Garrison Brown.
“This season of Sister Wives began filming in late 2022,” TLC revealed during the opening credits for the Sunday, September 15, episode.
The network then acknowledged Garrison’s death, writing, “On March 5, 2024, Kody and Janelle’s son Garrison passed away. He was greatly loved and will be deeply missed.”
Janelle and Kody Brown confirmed Garrison’s death in March, sharing a joint statement. “Janelle and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert ‘Garrison’ Brown,” the Instagram post read. “He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. Our loss will leave such a big hole in our lives, that it takes our breath away.”
Us Weekly reported at the time that Garrison died by suicide while living in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was 25.
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While Janelle and Kody, both 55, announced their separation in December 2022 after more than 30 years as a couple, they came together to mourn the loss of Garrison. They celebrated his life with a private funeral in March.
The exes, who spiritually wed in 1993, also share daughters Maddie, 28, and Savanah, 19; and sons Logan, 30, Hunter, 27, and Gabriel, 22.
The entire Brown family was shaken by Garrison’s death, including Janelle’s former sister wives Christine and Meri Brown, who publicly paid tribute to the late reality star. (Christine, 52, divorced Kody in November 2021, while Meri, 53, announced her and Kody’s separation in January 2023.)
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“Garrison was a wonderful, caring brother who understood Truely’s need for a hobby and built her a flowerbed,” Christine wrote via Instagram in March, sharing a video working alongside her youngest daughter, Truely, 13, at their house. “We’ll miss him forever. #gratitude #missyou #loveyou #tellthoseyoulovethatyoulovethem.”
Meri reflected on how much Garrison meant to her and her extended family in April, writing via Instagram, “Seeing [this photo] immediately moved me to tears, a testament of the love I have for him, the pain of the loss of him. It’s a reminder that grief comes in unexpected waves, memories of the moments with him all that remains. Four weeks today without him here with us. A lifetime of memories to hold sacred.”
Robyn Brown, who remains married to Kody, has not released a personal statement about the tragedy.
While Garrison’s death has remained on many of his loved one’s minds over the past few months, it was not discussed any further during the season 19 premiere.
Instead, the episode picked up around the time that Meri and Kody called it quits and the family tried to figure out what’s next.
“Christine and I just don’t talk, and Janelle and I’ve been separated,” Kody told the cameras. “Meri, do we say we’re divorced? No, I don’t think so. But we’re not in a marriage, and I don’t want to be in that marriage.”
He confessed, “The feelings from the breakup of the family are just raw. Like, who am I without my family?”
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Janelle, for her part, remained confident in her choice to leave Kody. “I mourn the loss of this ideal that we were striving for this family,” she said, noting that Kody’s alleged inability to prioritize their kids ultimately led to her decision.
“The big spark for me was when his relationship broke down with my children and he didn’t seem like he would move heaven and earth to fix it,” Janelle shared. “I thought, ‘OK, that was what was really holding me here.’”
Meri claimed that her split from Kody was caused by him slowly distancing himself. “For the past nearly decade, he has pulled himself away from me completely emotionally,” she alleged.
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Meri added that the only thing different between them is that she now plans to terminate their spiritual union with the church. “Like, why in the world would I want to be tied to somebody eternally who doesn’t want me?” she asked.
Christine, meanwhile, said she’s embraced her new family unit, which includes Janelle and her children. “When I first married Kody, I thought that we would be together forever, and then it fell apart,” she explained. “And now I still have Janelle. … I think we’re sister wives that are raising kids together that were part of the plural family.”
She continued, “The kids don’t have a great relationship with Kody. Not all the wives have a good relationship with each other. So that’s why I wouldn’t say it’s a plural family. I would say that what Janelle and I have is a sister wife family.” (Christine’s family now includes husband David Woolley, whom she married in October 2023.)
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
