Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald - Sister Wives’ Janelle and Reality Reckoning RIP
Episode Date: November 7, 2024It’s time to laugh as a country of Juicy Scoopers, so do that this weekend with me at the Irvine Improv! I got Real Housewives lawsuits and Vanderpump Rules updates! Then I talk to Janelle Brown fro...m Sister Wives! Janelle shares her surprising background prior to marrying Kody. We get into how the show got started. Did the wives ever consider the show may end if they were to leave Kody? Was there jealousy surrounding 4th wife Robyn? What could the show look like in the future? I also share what I think Kody is trying to convey as we all cringe watching him. Enjoy! To learn more about therapy with NOCD, go to https://nocd.com and schedule a free 15-minute call with their team. There’s a limited supply available, so head to https://mycuire.com to get your leather care kit today! Get the only skincare routine you’ll ever need. Head to https://JLOBeauty.com/JUICYSCOOP to receive 20% off plus THREE FREE GIFTS, including two quality Face Masks and one hydrating Beso Balm. Stand Up Tickets and info: https://heathermcdonald.net/ Subscribe to Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald on iTunes, the podcast app, and get extra juice on Patreon: https://bit.ly/JuicyScoopPodApple https://www.patreon.com/juicyscoop Shop Juicy Scoop Merch: https://juicyscoopshop.com Follow Me on Social Media: Instagram: https://www/instagram.com/heathermcdonald TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heathermcdonald Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherMcDonald Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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your handbag last forever. Heather McDonald has got the Juicy Scoop. When you're on the road,
when you're on the go, Juicy Scoop is the show to know. She talks Hollywood tales, her real life Okay, you guys, I want to thank everybody with your cooperation.
If you are part of the Apple
subscription, that's where you get to listen to the show ad free and you get all the back episodes
of all the shows on Tuesdays and Thursdays all the way back. I've been doing this for a very long time
going on 10 years. And then you also get the bonus episode on Friday. You will have received your
money back, but you do need to resubscribe now so
that that can keep going for you. So you're ready to resubscribe. The link is there. Resubscribe
to my Apple subscription and that'll be all seamless for you.
Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. Well, what an interesting time.
But you know what time it is?
It's time to bring the Juicy Scoopers back together
at the Irvine Improv.
You guys, it's time to laugh.
I know I've talked a lot about it,
but I feel like with everything going on,
people are like, I can't even think about laughing.
I'm too nervous.
Well, now you can.
This is gonna be a fun non-political show to celebrate the fun that
brings juicy scoopers together from all walks of life and sexuality and thoughts of opinions and
everything that just makes us all come together and love me, Heather MacDonald. Because this Friday,
I'm going to be doing a live stand-up show with
the hilarious Julie Goldman. And that is at 7.30 at the Irvine Improv. Then I've got two
shows for you to choose from on Saturday with Julie of us making you pee in your pants.
Get yourself an ab workout. Bring anybody you want. You don't have to worry. No one's
going to be offended. They're just going to laugh.
It is a little edgy. And that is at 730 and 930 this Saturday. And then Sunday is the live Juicy
Scoop. That is where I have special guests. I've got Brandy and Julie. I've also got Kate Casey.
You know her, our cute blonde from Reality Life with Kate Casey. She is going to be part of the show. There are going to be questions. It is going to be what nothing is off the table.
You can ask me about anything that has happened on Juicy Scoop in the last 10 years or in
my life, which is a long time. We are going to have a special guest, surprise guest that
you will die over. That is at 7 p.m. on Sunday night. And like I said, this is not going
to be recorded and put on a Patreon or anything like I said, this is not gonna be recorded
and put on a Patreon or anything like that.
It's not gonna be streamed.
I know some of you mad about it.
So if you are in the area.
Also, I just found out that the schools in Orange County
are off on Monday, November 11th, okay?
That is Veterans Day.
And they have it free.
So you guys, you can go with your girlies, have your fun,
have some cocktails, get an Uber, or a Lyft,
and you can sleep in.
You don't have to be running around making,
but it's also an earlier show.
Also, if you're part of the meet and greets,
that is going to be before the show on Sunday,
and it will be after the show on Friday,
and it will be before and after,
based on what show you go to for Saturday.
But if you miss one, like we're gonna work with you.
If you have the meeting reached,
you're gonna be able to meet me, okay?
So like if you miss the one for the first show,
then you can come to the middle part
in between the two shows.
It'll all work out.
Don't worry about it.
Get those tickets.
There are still tickets available.
And show me the love of Juicy Scoop in this country.
Okay, there we go.
I know a lot of people have been like,
Heather, you know, the thing that we really care most about is what is
going on with Peanut the squirrel. And there has been more that has come out. It was unlikely that
Peanut had rabies in the first place. I found out a little bit more. Okay, so first of all,
Peanut, I found out more. Peanut was a bottle fed squirrel. And then they put him out in the wild and he couldn't
survive. And so then this couple got him, made him an Instagram star. And also part
of it was they had like other animal rescue things going on. And that's where I guess
the raccoon was also part of their thing. As a couple, they did some risque social
media. I don't know if they were like an only fans. As a couple, they did some risque social media.
I don't know if they were like an OnlyFans, like sexy couple, they're attractive.
I don't know.
So they feel they were like targeted and now people are saying, I don't even think he had
rabies, which is why he was killed.
And you know, my basically this was the story that came from a juicy scooper.
Peanut and the raccoon were rescued and bottle fed.
They had them for like seven years with the money they earned from social media.
They opened a rescue.
Basically, some Karen complained and they came and raided their home and took them and
euthanized both the squirrel and the raccoon.
So thank you to that Juicy Scooper, Michael, that let me know that.
But the official has said he's not going to bother the governor of New York with this.
So there was talk that some smaller officials in New York were going to go fight the governor.
Why did you let this happen?
Now the latest thing is like, no, there's more important things to worry about.
But the squirrel was a huge influencer and the couple that helped
the squirrel people really liked them too. So there you go with a follow-up on that.
Also a follow-up on two crazy squirrels. And that comes from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
As you recall, Monica Casey was a troll that infiltrated the show. She was under the Instagram,
Reality Von Teese was her name. And she wrote me, she wrote several people. And really her whole
account was exposing how awful Jen Shaw, who is now doing nine years, so I think she got a couple
years cropped off for stealing from the elderly in scams.
So her whole thing was that she was friends with her or worked for her and was exposing how awful
she was. She had audio tapes that she played and everything. But the cast, she claims also talked
to her on this, but then she got on the show as Monica Casey, divorced mother of four.
And then of course, Heather Gay had her Oscar Emmy-winning moment where she's like, receipts,
timelines, everything.
And that was her moment where she realized that this girl, this troll, this mole was
actually a real housewife.
And they felt that she had written bad things about all of them, so they wanted her out.
So she got out.
Now meanwhile, she also realized at that time that one of her lawsuits that she had going
was that Monica had gone to her beauty lab.
This is Heather Gay's business that does really well.
And this is where you can get facials, but you can also get botox,
lip injections, all that like Medi Spa kind of stuff done. And she went there and got her lips
done and wrote to the person at the place. I love it. They look great. And then didn't pay. And then
when they came after her, the reason they didn't know is like she used another name. I'm just
recalling this, you know. So anyway, there was a $2,000 that she owed Beauty Lab and she never paid it.
And then she tried to say that she wasn't happy with her lips, even though they had
a text of her saying to someone, I love the lips, love it.
So Beauty Lab sued her and she tried to fight back.
Beauty Lab won and they won their $2,000. The interest of 18 months or whatever
it was, was like another $1,900. But then $31,000 was for the legal fees that Beauty
Lab and Heather Gaye incurred by defending themselves and going after this money. So,
she now has a judgment, Monica Casey, to pay Beauty Lab,
owned by Heather Gay of Real House of Salt Lake City, $35,000. So she is the voice over of the
show, The Villain. I don't know how much they paid her for that, but there you go. And she made a
comment being like, I can't believe this is even news when this is happening
because it came out yesterday on election day.
But you know, that's why it's news because if you're looking for any other news to talk
about like me, this was pretty juicy.
And I say good for Heather Gay, pay your bills.
That's the moral of the story before it goes to a legal thing because then you're going
to get these, it's going to be 10 times more, which it was if she would have just paid the $2,000 or if she would have just been like,
okay, I'm going to give you $100 a month. Whatever. All these people will work with you. It's when you
just refuse and then very stupid of her. Also, remember the Golden Bachelor. Oh, you're so special. Oh, you're so special.
Anyway, he got, he picked his girl named Teresa and she was real cute.
Now they were both widows and they both had children and grandchildren and they got married
on TV and then they were, got divorced within months and it was all, oh, we couldn't figure out where to
live. Well, she has now come forward and said there was a little more to it than that. One
was she was still working. Remember, a lot of us were concerned that he kind of latched
on to her because she was successful and still working. And she worked in like, she was like
a stockbroker or something, which she was like had money and she had this house in North
Carolina and she really thought that he would come and move there. But he worked in like, she was like a stockbroker or something, but she was like had money and she had this house in North Carolina and she really thought that he would come and move
there, but he lived in like Indiana or whatever. And so one day she was going to visit him
and she said there was this like this big, beautiful open land area on the way from the
airport to his house. And she just said, oh my gosh, this would be a beautiful place just
to build like beautiful town homes or something.
You know, it's just such a great view or whatever she said.
And he snapped at her and was like, farmland in the Midwest is protected.
What do you just want to take land from the farmers?
And you know, she was like, oh, okay.
Like she didn't realize she's making conversation, you know.
And it was one of those things which she was like,
I just don't think we could really get past that.
Like we just thought about life very differently
and then they just were like.
So the moral of the story is you shouldn't marry somebody
whether you're 17 or 70 that you met on a TV show
in which you only knew them for a matter of months
before you tied the knot.
Especially when it means you're this set in your ways,
you've already been married to the love of your life prior to who you lost. Like,
it's just not going to work out. Also, in other reality news, well, this is coming from the
Vanderpump Rules Party. They cover all the Vanderpump stuff. This is their Instagram account.
And they said that all charges have been dropped and the case is dismissed for Jeremy Maddox. This is the brother of Ariana Maddox, who was arrested
with his friend, allegedly bringing, I don't know if it was alleged because the stuff was
there, but they had like 50 pounds in a suitcase going from Orlando to Germany of weed. And anyway, it's been
dropped. So we don't really know the details of it. Some of the comments were he probably
gave the names of the bigger person. Obviously, in a drug dealing situation of that magnitude,
the feds or whoever want to know who's really running
the operation, you know, who's the top person. And if you're going to turn in your boss,
then they'll be a little more lenient. So that's good. I know he's engaged. They're
estranged. She was not there for the engagement party. She was not there for his birthday
party that Sheena threw. But this is good for their family. She, meanwhile, is doing fabulous.
She is going to be at the Macy's Day Parade. And still no word if Vanderpump Rules has a
old cast, a new cast, a mixed cast, or when they start filming again. So we'll see about that.
We'll see about that. Also Tom Sandoval said that the famed lawyers behind the reality reckoning, he is accusing
them because they were his attorneys as well, of enticing him to point the finger at Bravo
and NBC Universal. So to remind you guys, Bethany Frankel thought she was going to take down Bravo with this
reality reckoning.
But the people that she got to go after Bravo were not a sympathetic bunch.
And again, I just don't think this had a movement.
Like maybe you'd sympathize with like, you know, a union type of people that
are like working for hotels and you're like, you're right, they don't have good, you know,
let's get behind this union that's working for this hotel and make sure that they get
their like this was just kind of like it was undesirable people from the show that we didn't
really care about. So I don't think people care that much about it. Raquel being one of them.
Also, Leah McSweeney from Real Housewives of New York. She's saying that they were
not good about her struggling sobriety. Ebony from New York I think had some – might have
been part of it. I don't know who actually filed a lawsuit. So Mark Garagos was like
part of it and it was like, oh my God, this is going to be this huge takedown. And meanwhile, Tom Sandoval was being sued
by Raquel, Rachel Raquel for, she said he, you know, filmed her without her consent during
the scandal of when they FaceTimed and had sexy time together in which Ariana saw it on his phone.
So she's suing both of them for not for him for not making her aware that he was filming
her and for Ariana for sharing it.
Though Ariana said she never shared it.
She only sent it to back to Raquel to be like, I know what the fuck you did.
You're why with my man.
I'm done with you.
So there's never been any proof on any of that
to see that there's any wrongdoing there.
I don't know where that lawsuit stands.
But now Tom Sandoval is saying that his lawyers
came to him and said, if you point the finger
and are part of this reality reckoning at NBC and Bravo and say,
they exploited my story, they forced this story to happen with Raquel, just point the
finger of them wrongdoing as far as production and a network, then we will help.
This is what Tom is claiming.
Then we will make sure that the lawsuit that Raquel
is doing against you, Tom Sandoval, will be dropped. He's like, no, I'm not pointing
the finger at Bravo or my production company because they didn't do that. They didn't do
it. So again, we don't know what's happening with him. We don't know what is going to happen
with this show. He has still got his Tom Sandoval and the extras performing.
People are still going and enjoying it.
He has a new girlfriend and we'll see what happens.
But that's pretty juicy.
And then no word from Bethany Frankel.
I guess with her be strong and everything, we don't know what she's doing with this reality
reckoning.
I think she's just acting like she never was behind it. Meanwhile, Raquel ended her podcast and is dating a rocket
scientist and has moved the fuck along. Okay. So also, I thought this was interesting.
Kristin Cavallari, she said that she wants her next boyfriend to have had a vasectomy.
friend to have had a vasectomy. I think this is so interesting and smart and kind of a great conversation. She is like 36 or 37. She broke up with the hot tick talking Montana
boy who was 24 said it was the best sex of her life, but they broke up because he, you
know, she felt he needed to live his life and whatever.
I heard rumors that he was gonna go on a dating show
or wanted to, and she was like,
okay, I think I've had my fun.
I think we've screwed each other enough, whatever.
And she, I guess, isn't really sure
that she wants to have any more kids,
or maybe she has decided, I don't wanna,
she probably has decided,
I don't wanna have any more kids, but I don't wanna to, she probably has decided, I don't want to have any more kids.
But I don't want to be faced with a guy
who might want to have more.
And then this is an issue again.
And the ideal person to get with is someone
who's out of a psyched me because that guy has decided
I am done.
Either I've never wanted kids
or I don't want any in the future.
There's also been talk in Hollywood.
And I said it years ago.
When I was at Chelsea lately, I said, I think that George Clooney has had a secret vasectomy.
And it was a pretty like what thought. I have since found out that there are very successful
men who have never had kids that have had secret vasectomies in which
they save their sperm just like you'd freeze your eggs and they save it for when they are
ready to have kids.
And that way no one can say, you know, poke holes in the condoms or act like they're,
you know, barren and then get pregnant and complicate their life if they're not ready
to be a father with
this girl that they're sleeping with.
So I still think that's possible because George Clooney had all these girlfriends up in Telly
Metamal and then they had twins, which I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking maybe a fertility
situation, fertility doctor came into play, which would be perfect.
Here's my sperm.
Let's do some eggs.
And then she had the kids.
So she might find a guy that either A,
has had a couple of kids and got a vasectomy,
or he's like, I've had a vasectomy
and tell him ready to have kids with somebody else.
But I still think you need to get with Kristen.
She says, I want a Brady Bunch situation.
I think she needs to be very clear.
If you're gonna get with me, I'm done having kids.
It's okay if you bring some with you, but saving your sperm, whatever, we were done.
And I think that's cool.
I think it's an interesting thing.
And I wonder when women are in that place of like between 35 and 42, where you can still
pretty easily get pregnant just by doing it the old
fashion way.
You got to be real clear with your person.
You know, Giselle happily, I think she's pregnant, she's either 42 or 44, pregnant
with the jiu-jitsu, karate times two guy, you know, it's all good for her. But for somebody else,
maybe doesn't have millions and millions of dollars or just doesn't want to go down that
path, you got to spell it out. A lot of people were disturbed by Kim Kardashian going to
this LACMA, which is a beautiful LA museum here. They have like some fancy thing every year.
I, listen, she has perfect boobs and perfect cleavage
and she got this big amethyst cross, purple jewels cross
that she got at an auction from Princess Diana.
She had the money, she bought it
and she styled it with just a very
low cut white halter dress. And I thought it looked sexy. And I don't think and I think
it's, it's a good way to get people talking about you because I definitely think we don't
talk about them as much as we used to. I think it's stunning. I think it's cool that she
added other necklaces with it. And it's not
like Diana gave it to her because they were best friends and she gave it to her in a church
and was like, this is my gift to you before I die because I want you to, you know, pray
on it. It wasn't that she went just like she could buy jewels. I think she's bought stuff
from the Liz Taylor collection. Like so, but it made me go, ooh, I almost want to wear something
like that costume because it looks very cool. Anyway, so that was some controversy. I thought
she looked good. Also, Diddy or whoever's playing Diddy in prison, celebrated his 55th
birthday behind bars and there was video of his kids with his youngest
daughter. I don't know who her mom is but the youngest daughter was really cute singing
happy birthday to him on the phone with a bundt cake and you know he had some sad meal
they said daily mail said he celebrates his birthday behind bars with sad prison meal.
Well I hope it's a sad
prison meal if you're behind bars for trafficking. I hope it is. But there you go. All right, you
guys, I was able to talk to Janelle. Yes, wife number two of Sister Wives. Now, if you're,
you know about Sister Wives, even if you're not watching it this season, you will absolutely love this interview. You love the one with Christine, wife number three. This is Janelle, wife number
two. She too has left Cody. And it's so interesting. We get into her background, how she was previously
married, how her, the connection of her mother with Cody's family, her connection with Mary's
family. A lot of the things that I
would hear bits and pieces of that I've watched it over the years and were confused by, what happened,
what it's like, what it really was like to film the show. A lot of the things about filming the
show and whatnot, I was afraid that in asking her, she wouldn't answer or maybe they would make me,
you know, not air it. So it's a really behind the scenes kind of an interview.
And we did it on Zoom and it was really great to talk to her.
And so here we go with Janelle from Sister Wives.
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Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop.
I'm so excited to be talking to the first time ever.
I've watched you for 17 seasons.
Janelle Brown, mother, former polygamist
wife of Cody Brown, wife number two, star of TLC Sister Wives. Welcome to Juicy Scoop.
Thank you. Thank you.
Wow. Okay. I have so many questions. So one thing that you've said since the breakup with
Cody is you're like, I always liked polygamy and I wouldn't be opposed to possibly joining
that situation again. So tell me again what your history was with polygamy growing up before you met Cody and
accepted his proposal.
So I grew up in the mainstream LBS church and they actually did away with polygamy in
like the 1890s.
So they don't live polygamy.
There were groups of people who felt like that was the wrong decision.
So they continued to live it. They were offshoot groups. So when I first met Cody and when I first
met Mary and her family, they were kind of like my token polygamous friends. They were like,
oh, I have these friends in there. You know, it was always a novelty thing to talk about.
And you knew that they were polygamous because they, even though she was the only wife at the time, they said this is a lifestyle we're looking forward to.
Oh, sorry. This was Mary and her family way before.
Oh, her family. So Mary came from polygamy.
Yes. Yes. Oh, okay.
So I knew Mary's family. And so they were always kind of like my token polygamous friend,
like a party thing you brought up, like something you talked about. And when I first met them, I remember being shocked because I didn't know people still
live polygamy.
I mean, I lived in Utah my whole life.
I never knew any polygamists, you know.
But yeah, so that was a big shock for me in high school to realize that people still lived
polygamy.
And they're living right there as neighbors, people that, you know, you saw all the time
but didn't think about. So, um, so it was after I was probably in my early twenties,
when I started to investigate more of the fundamentalist Mormon beliefs and Mary's mom,
she was amazing. She was an amazing lady. And she really did, um, meet with me and study with me
and kind of helped me sort of discover
if this was something that I wanted to pursue.
So thanks, thank Mary's mom, because I'm here.
And when someone is kind of like,
let me walk you through it,
do they share the benefits of it like we saw in the show?
What are the things that appealed to you in discovering it?
You know, really for me, it was really about, it was about faith.
It was about the doctrines.
Like, so that was where it's really based.
It's not, they don't really talk to you about the lifestyle.
You know what I mean? Like they're every family is different.
Every person is different.
So for us, it's very much based on scripture and prayer,
you know, to decide if you want to live this way.
And what is this doctrine? What does it say that why this should be the path you take?
Yeah, it really is just a pathway, I think, to become better, right? To strive for perfection.
to become better, right? To strive for perfection. Every religion has a pathway, moksha. I mean, like, you know, I mean, like everybody has a pathway to more righteousness or to a health,
a more righteous living. And really, we just, it's really a personal growth formula, I think.
So the men have to grow and the women have to grow. So then, so you were like friends with Mary and Cody,
and now weren't you married briefly prior to Cody?
I was married, that's how I knew Mary's family.
I was married to Mary's brother very, very briefly.
I think we lived together for maybe like five months
because it was not, it did not stick.
And that was over before I met Cody. That was over.
And then didn't your mom or somebody else marry Cody's dad?
Yes. So she came to save me, you know, from the pligmas because sure as heck,
nobody, none of her kids were going to marry a pligmas because there is a lot of stigma
against pligamy. And especially in Utah, a lot of stigma. They're treated very
against polygamy and especially in Utah, a lot of stigma. They're treated very like second class citizens
in lots of ways.
But she was gonna save me from the polygamous
but she ended up marrying Cody's dad.
And are they still together?
He passed away in 2013, 14.
So they were together until he passed away, yeah.
But were they in a monogamous marriage? No, plural.
How many wives did Cody have?
Cody's dad. Yeah.
Cody's dad had three wives.
And your mom was number what?
Three. They married late in life.
And so then your mom, after she came to visit you and say, don't do it,
fell in love with Cody's dad and the lifestyle as well.
Yeah, yeah. So there you go.
And then jump to you guys, you know, then you then Christine comes on and you were fine about that because you this was the lifestyle you wanted. Correct.
Yes. yes. In what he was saying in the latest episodes, Cody,
I thought it was like really.
This is a different Cody.
But I. This is a very different Cody.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I understand.
And I think that is really, no, I mean,
it's just so fascinating and that's why I covered
your show so much.
Because first of all, you guys are all really interesting
and likable and so real and so
different than like the real housewives type of things because you really never change as far as
like who you are at the core you're not getting tons of plastic surgery you're not you know living
a different life you're not going on a million red carpets or so i find that really very interesting. And of course, the story is the is the only story on TV like it unique.
So but what he was saying is, you know, not and I'm going to give him some grace.
OK, because everybody's always going after him.
But I feel like he is what just happens with a lot of people
when they kind of leave a religion and essentially
polygamy was his own religion. You guys kind of did your own thing.
It was. It was. It's a part of our religion. It was. It's a part of our religion.
And because it didn't work out, now he's in his fifties and he's had three wives have
left him and he only has the one. And I think he was trying to say, like, I was so committed to the
lifestyle that looking back, because he's been rejected by you and Christine, and I mean, he's
mean about Mary, but it feels like he it was more, you know, obviously you're doing to leave him.
So I think to justify his rejection, he's saying, you know, I was
so committed to this lifestyle and I thought everybody wanted it. And looking back, I didn't
marry with the same time of passion and love. It was just, here's this person, she's good
enough for now and she wants to do the lifestyle and we're going to go in this path that God told me to do.
And that's I mean, do you feel like that's kind of what he was saying?
Like he's like mad that I think he's mad that he now that he's left with the one wife, Robin, I think the most beautiful thing
about a divorce is if you do have kids,
you can always say, well, I wouldn't have this kid
if I didn't.
So it's like, it's just a path.
But it's like, he's just kind of being like,
why did I ever do, maybe I should have never done this
in the first place, I married the wrong women.
Yeah, I have no idea why he says that.
For me, it's really hard to judge
the decisions and the life I was living in my 20s and 30s than it from my perspective now, did not. I mean, I think any relate any relationship I were to have, just like the
relationship he has with Robin would be very different now than the relationship I had with
him in the beginning.
I think we all grow and evolve, right? And I don't know if he needs to somehow,
like he instead of just comparing, I think, and say, Hey, well, that was a really, that's a very
different relationship experience. I think he wants to try to somehow, I don't know, you'd have to
ask him. But to me, it's like he's just trying to validate
where he's at now.
I have no idea why.
We have these beautiful children.
And Christine and I have always said,
we do not regret anything that we have done.
We don't regret our life at all.
Because we have this amazing family.
I've had all these life experiences.
I don't regret one bit of it.
Yeah, and I think that's a thing like life is, you know, life is long and it's,
you know, so let's now get into what was going on. So when we when the show first start started now, I remember from I got to let my dog out.
Yeah. Oh. Sorry.
Oh. Sorry.
Okay.
So when I remember Christine kind of telling me that like the show started because it was just going to be this one like this one off where you're going to participate in like a documentary like one off, and then they discovered you and, and so I want to hear from you, like, when you agreed to let cameras
come in, and essentially when you say once we became public, that's what you're referring
to as we're on this show, was anybody else in your life, like your mom, who was married
to Cody's dad, other people, were they excited for you at any time through the 17 seasons?
They were like, I don't think you should do this anymore? You know we and I'm not sure how much you know so Christine had become very involved with
a political action kind of group to try to help bring issues to the legislature and the law people
of the law people that's so sophisticated but the yeah the legal people the legal people that's so sophisticated, but the legal people in Utah, right, tried to
advocate for plural families. So we were approached about doing a show a couple of different times.
The one that took was a gentleman who really truly believed that there was way more to
the story than what was being shown, right? Sorry, there's
a very loud thing.
I can't hear. Keep going.
Okay, good. And so we went with him and it was we trusted him and he was he turned out
to be such a great guy, but he was a really great guy. And so he brought the show to fruition.
I remember being so scared. I was so scared. Because we were essentially
going to go right in the face of the law of Utah. And I remember being so scared that
they would come and arrest me at work or like do something crazy, you know, separate our
family. We did get a lot of kickback from our religious community at the time because they
were scared too. They're like, usually how it worked in Utah is you sort of just kept your head down.
You just didn't make it rock the boat. You kept your head down. People know you were
living polygamy, but you know, just they didn't say don't ask, don't tell kind of in a different
sort of way. So our community was very scared. So most of them were scared about us going
public and then by association, they would be outed.
But there were a lot that were like,
yeah, it's about time.
Like the younger generation especially,
it's about time that we start to show that we're normal.
Yeah.
And so I didn't realize right when the show started,
Robin was already in the fold,
talking to Cody and all of that.
That I just discovered.
I thought that you guys already had like a season or two
before she came on.
So she had entered it with no,
just to clear up any misconceptions,
it wasn't like part of the attraction
of her joining your family was,
oh, I get to be on TV because it hasn't started yet.
No, in fact, she almost didn't join the family because she wasn't sure she wanted to be on
TV.
Like she almost didn't.
So, so she already was there recording and she were already recording.
At the time that we decided to, you know, have the first episode or whatever.
And so that we see, you know, when the kids are little,
one of my things, when you guys would show like Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the tables and everything,
would a camera guy come for that or would you just shoot your own stuff and send it?
They were there. Like they were there. They were so dedicated.
We have a really amazing crew. So we have had pretty much the
same crew, a few people have come and gone, but pretty much the same crew from the beginning.
And we wanted that because of the kids, right? They were in the house with us and the kids.
And so we just, we know these people, like we just know them, like we've worked with
them for so many years. They're sort of like, sort of like the work family, right? That
you just know so well. Yeah. In fact, we were
just talking today because my daughter just had her 29th
birthday. They're like, Oh, we remember when she was like 15.
I'm like, Yeah, I know. I know.
Wait, who's 29?
Maddie.
Now and she and Maddie has the two kids, right?
Just three.
Oh, she's three now. Okay. Yeah. So I think it's really fun
that we, you know, saw them grow up.
I know none of them wanted a polygamous life.
Several of your kids and Christine kids have married and it's fun to see them have the
babies and all of that.
And also that they have led really normal lives.
And I think that is really fascinating in they in them like going like when you guys were at
the cul-de-sac in Las Vegas and stuff.
So they would just go to normal school and nobody said anything or anything?
Maybe because it was Vegas.
I don't know.
Maybe.
I mean, maybe.
They're like, we won't talk about your parents, You don't talk about ours, right? Yeah.
I don't. I think it was just kind of like, it was like, okay, cool. Like, hey, we had an, I had a neighbor when I lived in Vegas that went to work dressed as Elvis in a pink Cadillac every
night. So maybe it's just, it was just, you know, maybe it was just like, but for them, it was just
like, um, it was an icebreaker, right? There was never really any prejudice. Like it was sort of
like, oh, Hey, you're that guy. It's okay, cool. Like, you know, and Hunter played football and I was
doing a body and like Logan wrestled and like, uh, Garrison was in the JROTC or whatever,
you know what I mean? Like, he just had normal lives. Like it just sort of like, it was kind
of like, I think kids are pretty easy. I don't think kids are, I don't think kids.
But again, it was sort of unique. If I compare it to the other reality shows that are a lot more, you know, lossy in Hollywood,
it seems like the kids perform for the cameras or one really kind of wants a bigger career
in the cameras and all your kids like went to college and like lived their own thing.
Now I always thought that the cul-de-sac was like the greatest situation for a polygamous
family ever. Everyone had
their own family. Easy for him to get from house to house if he forgot his favorite shoes.
So when he decided to let's, we found this land in off Coyote Pass and you always seem
to be the most like accommodating, like, all right, I guess we're doing this. But I remember saying
this to Christine, looking back now, of course, you could never say, coulda, woulda, shoulda,
but I'm going to kind of say coulda, woulda, shoulda. Do you think if you guys never had
left the cul-de-sac, I feel like the minute you left the cul-de-sac and then add COVID to it. And then this incredible challenge of building
either one big house or four different,
five different houses, whatever,
on this land that isn't part of a community
that already has electricity and water.
And like, do you ever wonder
if things might have been different?
Probably, you know, or it's good that it all happened
because you would have just been staying
in the same state of mind for another 10 years.
You know, I think it would have come
to the same eventual outcome.
I mean, the children were getting older.
I mean, that was a factor, I think.
That was a big factor,
that the children had kind of their own opinions.
And I think the cracks a big factor that the children had kind of their own opinions.
And I think the cracks were already there.
I do.
I'm actually kind of glad that we moved to Flagstaff.
I think it gave me a lot more freedom to lead, to be, I wasn't as encumbered here.
I didn't have a mortgage. some of those things that made it a
little bit easier to exit. But I think that it would have
eventually unraveled this because at the crux of it is
Cody's relationship with his children. And then also to that
the, that the, the three marriages that he'd had were
sort of starting to, to w, to crack, to fall apart.
He obviously has some sort of, he says, some sort of soulmate relationship with Robin.
We could have continued if he had been able to maintain relationships with everybody in a fair
and equitable way, but I just don't think he had it in him. You know, he turned 50 and that was a time
where he really took stock of his life.
And I think he just decided it was too much for him.
That's me, you'll have to ask him,
but that's kind of what I see happen.
And so you started to see that where,
between the kids being older,
living in all these different distances away in Flagstaff,
and then add the
the COVID stuff where he, oh, I can't see you, or the kids can't see me, or interpreting them as
being disrespectful and stuff. I think as a viewer, I think that, you know, I think the ultimate
sister-wife thing is that you're selfless. You're selfless. You put your husband above
you. You put the, I can't be jealous or I have to love my sister wives even though they're
we're all loving the same man. And then of course the kids come next and or first or
so I think it's a very selfless thing. And I think that with you and Christine, I mean,
you know, that you that you had accepted that he wasn't that great of a partner to you.
But once you saw that he wasn't being the father that he once was, is where I think as a viewer, you guys started to really check out.
Well, first of all, I need to kind of go back. There are some cultural assumptions that are
hard to not make, right? I mean, in some of the more fundamental polygamous cultures,
I mean, that might be a belief, but definitely, we definitely consider ourselves as individuals
and that our needs are important. And we feel, actually, probably I would advocate for my children far above Cody's needs.
Like, it wouldn't have been that Cody was somebody that we needed to, you know, put
on this pedestal or honor as some sort of head.
It was more of a, we really did work together as a team.
It was an inequality thing, really.
I just think it was that the
children were getting older, and they had different opinions. It
became harder for him to sort of lead his family, you know, he had
a hard time finding much common ground when he disagreed with
the kids so much. I just, it might have just been a natural
evolution of the age of the children and everything
just kind of starting to disintegrate.
Now, Christine made it very clear over and over in the show that it seemed like it was
they were not being intimate at all or very, very, very infrequently over the last decade of their
relationship. But you've sort of insinuated that that wasn't really the case with you
guys.
Oh, no, it wasn't for us. I mean, that's why I've said Christine and I have that. Christine
and I had very different marriage relationships, for sure.
And so then since you were still as an intimate relationship, was that like more heartbreaking
than to make the hard decision of like, I just don't want to be part of this anymore?
No, really, for me, the decision was that the relationship was just waning.
Like we, we had grown very distant.
Um, like, I mean, we were still friends, everything was, you know, we all, you know, he was still, he still came around on kind
of a regular schedule.
He was still, we're still going through all the motions, but I think we both had sort
of emotionally drifted away.
And so for me, it was really more, I remember thinking when he had such a big break with the kids, because the kids are
what had kept me in the relationship because I didn't want to rock their world too much.
I really wanted to make sure that my kids, there was too much cost to the kids, I felt
like in leading their father.
But when that sort of fell out of the equation, I'm like, oh, I could lead.
And it felt like it was time to, you know, he was starting to make a lot more noise about, you know, he really liked the way that Robin treated him, his head,
you know, all the things like all the things about Robin that he really liked. And I just
thought, you know, I think it's, I think it's time.
But marriages, they relationships ebb and flow, right? You know that you've been in
a relationship long enough, you know, ebbs and flows. And we have had those periods in our marriage where ebbs and flows,
but this was different. This was definitely very different from that.
And I mean, in in chronicling it on the reality show, and, you know, not to like break the fourth
wall, but was there ever a thought of like,
well, how would this work for the show?
Or was it always like, you can all follow us
the way you've been following us at the different houses.
Why does it matter?
I feel like the show has only gotten better.
Like I'm more intrigued.
I like seeing all the different families.
But I wonder at one time it was like,
well, this is our livelihood and like, what about that?
I remember when Christine started to make noise
about leaving, cause she was talking to my children
about it, cause she was honestly testing the waters,
cause she wasn't gonna leave if it was,
that she would lose that relationship with the kids, right?
That was first and foremost.
So she was kind of death in the water with them.
And I started to hear about it.
And I did worry.
I'm like, okay, so what does this mean for our life?
Because here we are in these houses altogether.
Like, what does this look like?
Cause that could be major.
It could make big, big changes, right?
In A, the show, and then B, just how do we do this? How do we do this? So, I don't know if
it really kept us together longer. But there was
definitely some thought about, well, how does this change
things, right? I think ultimately, at the core, and I
don't know, you'd have, I mean, maybe you've talked to
Christine, for me, it was really about the kids, when I no
longer felt that there would
be too high of a cost emotionally for the kids. I felt like I was okay. So we. Yeah.
And with so so we seek you know we see like one thing that Christine said she said on
my show and then I just saw on one of the episodes recently is she said, now that I have fallen in love with David, I understand what a soulmate is. And it seems like she
almost forgave Cody a little bit in saying, yeah, if like, if I had three men or whatever,
I wouldn't want to leave David to go visit the other ones because I feel a stronger connection, this soulmate
connection. And so my question was in, you know, in bringing Robin in and you guys said, you know,
she was very giving about the wedding. She wanted it to be about the whole thing. She's cried and
said, I never wanted to be the only wife. I wanted the political life. I wanted, she wanted the big
house that Coyote had passed. She wanted to raise all the kids together. Was there any moment where before it kind of really
came to a head that you felt like, oh, whoa, there is something different going on with them, that
it might, whatever, be on a totally different level than us, than me, than Christine and then Mary.
You know, look, every relationship was different. And I was really happy with what I had, I was
very comfortable, I was very independent. I learned early on to kind of communicate with Cody what I
needed from him. And I was pretty confident in my own skin. And so
I could see that there were some differences in that relationship and didn't really bother me
because technically part of the growth trajectory for men is that they need to learn to be able to
manage and have capacity for all those relationships.
And so I saw it, It didn't bother me.
In fact, my kids now are like, I don't know, mom, didn't you see him do XYZ?
I'm like, I don't know.
I just wasn't tracking.
I didn't need to track it.
I was okay in my life.
I was okay in my relationship.
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Welcome to Monet Talks with me, your girl Monet Exchange.
A weekly podcast where the only thing harder than the tea
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featuring a dazzling array of guests, including fellow queens, other celebrities, pop culture icons, friends,
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I was outed.
Outed?
Yeah.
Say their name.
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That's the tea.
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like executive career outside the home or what did you do?
I tried.
What was your job that brought in an income while Christine helped kind of rear the younger
kids while you were working and bringing in an income? I worked in sort of an admin type position, administrative assistant, clerical.
Then I got an accountant.
I finished my accounting degree.
I went back to school full time.
In my early 30s, Gabriel was just a baby.
I was working full time and I finished my accounting degree.
I did have, I had a brief season where I worked as an accountant, but then the show came. So I didn't do that very long.
So I always had, I had a lot of, I worked for several government agencies, caseworker,
I did lots of different things. And that was something, that was an arrangement that both
you and Christine liked that you
had that you were working outside of the home and she was working inside the home
with all the kids? Yeah I don't know it sort of just evolved that way I always
had a career before I always had a job that was more career oriented before I
married Cody and I just continued working in those spaces and Christine
really did want to
be home more with the kids and she had that skill set for it. She doesn't get
freaked out by a bunch of mess in the kitchen because they can clean, she makes
tickets so they can clean it up really fast. I would be like, oh it would be too much for me.
Like she was perfect to be home with the kids. Yeah. Yeah. And then when he made
references and when I saw you guys both at the Us Weekly party, I was like, I brought this up.
It's like he got angry, Cody, because now you guys, as you know, in the last few years,
have really formed a really beautiful bond, friendship and true sisterhood, you know,
like your real sisters.
And he was like, you know, he's like so pissed
because I'm sure there were times,
just like any other family where you might've, you know,
bitched a little bit about Christine
and Christine may have bitched about you.
And he felt like he was, he's like,
I deserve the Medal of Honor because back in those days,
I was able to manage this all.
And now you guys have kicked me to the curb
and now you're besties.
And I think that's the truth.
And it could be, yeah.
I mean, there's definitely some truth there.
But it's true because now Christine and I,
without the conflict of trying to work out
being all married, right?
In a marriage relationship,
all we have now are the kids and all the crazy things
that have happened to us over our lives.
Like I spent as much time with her
as I have my own sister really.
If you have all these crazy life stories,
you're gonna be like, oh, you remember that?
Oh yeah, I remember.
Like you don't even have to have those.
Like, you know what I mean?
You have all that history, that shared history.
So it actually has made for a very beautiful friendship
because like we just know each other, right?
We just know each other.
We did this quiz where we're like, what does she hate?
I'm like, I know it, I know, like I know, you know,
we know each other, so.
And so with Mary, it always felt like, you know,
yeah, especially towards the end, you know?
And I think it must have been hard being that she wanted to have more children
and only had her one child while you guys were, you know, probably,
you know, constantly taking pregnancy tests and, you know, getting pregnant.
You guys were pregnant a lot at the same time.
And so I would imagine that dynamic would be hard too. Like you wanna be happy for your pregnancy,
but at the same time, I mean, I remember just even
with my own life, my sister and I both have two kids each,
but there was a time where she was struggling
to get pregnant and having miscarriages, things like that.
And then I tried to get pregnant right away.
I got pregnant and I kept it from her for like,
when I finally told her, she was like, how far far along are you and I'm like ten weeks and that made
her feel worse because she was like oh you didn't want to tell me you know so I
think that could have been really a difficult dynamic where you you know
you're thinking about someone else's feelings but you also deserve to be like
happy and pregnant yeah so are you asking kind of about the dynamic between them?
Yeah, like I wonder if that had added,
because I think as a viewer, we don't really understand.
Like we've heard little things when you,
before the cul-de-sac, it was that she was very strict
and she didn't want the kids coming through her living room
to go to one of the houses and it was a pathway.
And that obviously built some resentment because it made your life as a contributing person of the family with
kids and stuff.
Really my kids can walk through the living room.
I get how those things can build up and then why you are where you are now kind of.
So Cody has this, Cody wants to harp on this too.
Like you do not have to be friends to be sister wives.
You don't.
I mean, our relationships come together very,
we believe very inspired.
Like there's a lot of prayer.
There's a lot of discussion and stuff,
about who's going to come into your family.
And just because they're meant for your family doesn't mean that they're going to be this
personality that you get along with.
Obviously, they get along well with your husband, they make enough of a couple to be a couple.
But just because you're in a relationship in a marriage with a sister doesn't mean that
you necessarily always get along.
So for me and Mary, it was really just more, we are very
different personalities, very different personalities. And
that really was hard in the very beginning, because I sort
of went into this idealistically like, oh, we're
gonna all just be friends. And but no, and that was a kind of
a hard realization that you weren't gonna always be friends.
Christian and I had a lot more common in common,
like with the way that we viewed things,
we viewed the world a little bit more. But so for Mary and I,
what we did is we actually learned how to be able to work together as a team.
And outside of the family relationship, um,
when that no longer existed,
there wasn't really a whole lot of anything that we needed to interact about.
We have no
ill will towards each other. We just don't have anything that we run it, we
we do together. You will see in this upcoming season though, we actually do
find something that we work together on and it's good.
Yeah and yeah it's you know and then she we see that she kind of had her own thing going with her Airbnb or bread breakfast
and that was a whole other state away.
And now the real juicy thing that happened with her was the catfishing thing, which I
find really fascinating on, it was almost like ahead of its time.
Now I feel like there's so many documentaries on cat fishing and whatnot.
And people, and a lot of the common catfish stories
that I've recently followed are women posing as men
to pursue sometimes a girl they know, like a best friend.
And they get off on seeing their best friend get all excited
and the guy, they constantly can't meet this guy.
And so I can see, and then put on it that she was, you know,
had the fame from the show and there's fans
and there's social media and all that kind of stuff.
When, how did you guys find, Adam,
did you not know until we saw it like in the tabloids
or did you know prior that this was happening?
Um, I had never heard of cat fishing. I remember vaguely seeing something on a TV listing and I thought that's weird. Why are they have a show about cat fishing? I'm thinking like cat fishing like
You fish for catfish like that old country song like cats in the dark or whatever you know what I mean for catfish, like that old country song, like cats in the dark or whatever, you know what I mean, whatever, like catfish. So I didn't know, but I did think that
she was acting different, like she was acting very different, less engaged with the family,
that kind of thing. So I think it's one of the most horrible things. Like what a
horrible way to be, to be this person who gets off on that. It just you do so much devastation.
Yeah, so much devastation. And for what just because I don't know, like you can't have a real
life or I don't know, you can't make real friendships. I have no idea. I don't understand it.
So right. And then the victim of it always is like,
how could I be so stupid?
It's like, well, you weren't being stupid.
This person approached you and said
that you were fabulous and interesting.
And she obviously wasn't, we know now,
Cody never felt that way about her.
So even if she went to bed telling herself,
oh no, like he loves me because the covenant says he does.
You know, she didn't. So when she got it from somebody else that was, you know, fulfilling
a need and giving her compliments and giving her attention, I really, I can't blame any
woman for engaging in that, you know, why wouldn't you?
Yeah. Let me do it. Let me answer that in two parts. So I have to tell you that Cody,
as much as Cody wants to say now, oh my gosh, it was horrible. I never loved them. I was
there. I know what was said. I know how he acted. That was not the case. Now he wants
to sort of revise history, I think. But then the second part is I do think Cody and Mary's
relationship was definitely struggling at the time or at that point. And I think
I've watched and a lot of times catfish fishers are like more successful with women who are
not getting their emotional needs met, right?
Totally.
I mean, it's just, it's their, it's their, their victim profile.
Right.
And meeting some of the people that Mary met, they all sort of have a profile,
right? That they think they're vulnerable.
So that these people are preying on these vulnerable women.
Yeah. And, um, when it came down to,
okay, because Robin's coming into the family with three other kids,
and therefore it would benefit her more than Mary, whose
child is now almost grown.
The whole divorce thing, that didn't really involve you and Christine because you guys
didn't have the legal marriage either.
But did you at any time feel like, were you like 100% this is the right thing to do or
did you feel like this was wrong to even bring up or ask?
I don't know how it came about. I don't know if Mary offered or what how it came about.
No, what I remember is that Mary said that she had felt impressed like a spiritual impression
that she should be doing this. I don't know. That's what I remember. And I remember when
she said something and we were all there together, I was so shocked because Mary very much put a lot of value in that legal relationship.
And I thought, wow, it's a pretty big sacrifice, you know, on her part to do that.
But we all understood it was so that Robin, so Cody could have dropped Robin's children
and you know, and we were fine.
We just knew that was it.
It didn't really change things.
I did have some concerns. I remember addressing them with Cody and he reassured me that it would be fine. Like we just knew that was it. It didn't really change things. I did have some concerns.
I remember addressing them with Cody
and he reassured me that it would be fine,
that we would be fine.
Nothing's changing.
What was your concern that it would affect Mary later
in a pretty negative way?
Actually us, like I worried that it'd affect Cody and I.
And I asked him point blank and he said,
no, everything is still the same.
Because by him now really being married to Robin,
you felt it might affect your relationship.
Yeah, just like the shift in dynamics.
I remember thinking, I wonder if this is going to affect us.
And so I asked him, and he answered me and said, no,
everything is the same.
And really, it was.
There was no big differences in our relationship after that.
So when you get to Coyote Pass, he presents the big house,
which actually was stunning.
And he was like, this way kids can come home and visit
and you each have your own kitchen and da da da da.
Which is so funny, like I just want my own kitchen,
which I kind of get it,
but as someone that like doesn't cook that much,
I'd be like, who cares? It's a hard thing. It's a hard thing for some reason, I do kind of get it. But as someone that doesn't cook that much, I'd be like, who cares?
It's a hard thing. It's a hard thing. For some reason, I do not know what it is. Even
if you're not someone who cooks that much. A kitchen is a very... You want things a certain
way. Maybe you want to cook your... I order a lot of those meals in the mail because like, they're
so awesome. Like they're so easy, right? I just pop them in the microwave or whatever.
But you know, like maybe you're the person who wants to have the gourmet kitchen. I mean,
like there's a lot of conflicts that happen.
I actually, I take it back because I actually don't like it when I'm cooking and my husband's
like, you know, like kind of sniffing around and being like, are you using that pan? Are you cleaning? So you're right. I get why you're just,
like, I just want my own thing. Yeah.
The kitchen is such a central part of the home. It's such a,
it's such a, it's a heartbeat of the home, right?
Everybody's in the kitchen at some point in the day, right?
Right. And it's just, it's just a very personal space.
So kitchens are hard
to share. So when he brings up this plan, here, you can all have your own kitchen, blah, blah,
and of course, Robin wants it and you're like down. Mary's kind of like whatever, but Christine was
like, absolutely not. And I think she probably knew that she wanted to leave and was like,
if this goes the next step, then like,
it's like when someone is on the verge of getting divorced
and then they don't really want to buy the next house
because they're like, wait, why would I do that
when I'm already thinking?
Like how sometimes in a normal marriage,
someone stalls another move like that,
or they sell the house and they're like, let's rent.
And then you find out, and then one person files like a year later, because they're like,
I don't know if I want to put all of our assets get tied into like a two year building.
But you, you seemed, you know, totally down.
And obviously you really liked that area.
And then you got the trailer thinking maybe that would help get things going somehow that
you were there. But then the audience was going somehow that you were there.
But then the audience was very mad
that you were living on a train.
Oh, it was such a temporary thing.
It really was a temporary thing.
So I don't know where Christine was at that point.
You'd have to ask her, and maybe you already have.
I know that probably by the time COVID came around
and things started to go south, I know that at that point,
she's like, Okay, I think I'm over I'm done with this. I don't know at that stage of time.
I know at that stage of time, her biggest concern was that she would not be able to
could never really be home focusing with her, right? She really, she really liked Cody to be home and to be totally focused at home.
And Cody, he always liked to be sort of circulating and seeing all the kids, right?
So he wasn't ever home and just staying at her house.
I do think she worried that she would see less of him because everybody else would be so close proximity.
But I am totally putting words in her mouth and you would have to ask her.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't think it was that she wanted to leave. I mean, she and I had had conversations through
the years, even clear back in Vegas, which like, I really don't want to do this anymore.
I'm like, well, that's fine. You need to figure out how to be able to support yourself, you
know, and all these things, right?
Yeah.
But I think it was that she was afraid that she would not have as much quality time with
Cody, I would bet.
But you'd have to ask her.
Yeah.
But I think that, you know, when that moment came where Mary where she's like, I don't
want to do marriage with Cody anymore.
Mary's like, look at the mountain, like we're going to have this big thing.
And the fact that like Coyote Pass never happened.
I know.
It's still a bane of mine.
I mean, it's still something on my neck.
I don't know if you can tell us where you're at with it now.
Is that, are we going to see it in the show?
Or okay.
You don't see a lot of it unfold.
But yeah, like, I mean, it's a really amazing place.
Everybody who comes out is like, wow, it's really amazing.
It's amazing. It's an amazing place. And I am very is like, wow, it's really amazing. It's amazing.
It's an amazing place.
And I am very sorry that we weren't
able to make something happen here because it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
But I think Mary was just trying to cheerly Christine
because I think we could all see the writing on the wall
at that stage.
Yeah, so then when Christine meets her guy,
you're kind of like, from what I've seen, what you've said, you're like, I,
I'm open to it, but I'm not going on the apps. I am also really,
I'm also really fine being alone, but I'm also, like I said,
wouldn't be opposed to joining another polygamous family. Do you still feel that way?
I don't foresee that I will be, I really would would because I don't really know anybody. I'm not
really going to those churches anymore. My faith is still very intact, but I don't know
how I ever would. You know what I mean? But I just think dating in this modern age seems like brain damage. Like it just, it's crazy to me.
So I'm not looking, I'm really, Christine really did want to find that.
And I'm so not, I'm so about like bringing my own dreams to fruition right now.
So if something organically happens and I don't know, I'm going to be a farmer on 150
acres in North Carolina.
I don't know how many guys I'm going to meet doing that.
You know what I mean?
Right, so you, we see that you guys are talking about it.
So you now have the land that you are going to build
a home with your daughter and her family.
Yep, and we're going to have,
we're going to be a flower farmers.
We're going to have flowers. Whatever that be a flower farmers. We're gonna have flowers.
Whatever that looks like, flowers.
Wouldn't it be so great to just come and be in the flowers?
We don't know what that looks like.
We're sort of making this all up as we go.
We know that we're gonna have flowers.
We know we're gonna have a home.
We know people are gonna be able to come.
That's all we know.
Yeah.
Just flowers.
Well, I mean, that's exciting.
I'm like, I'm happy for you. Do you, I mean, that's exciting. I'm like, I'm happy for you.
Do you, I mean, you know, it looks like the show is going to continue forever.
I mean, do you ever feel like, like, you know, I want it to end or I want or, or, you know,
any, any, do you ever think about it?
It's been such a big part of your life. I mean, it's been like a third of your life.
Isn't it crazy? I know it's so crazy. Listen, I'm here for as long as we are
authentic and are interesting. Yeah, you know, I just don't want to be not
authentic. I want to be who we are. And I love, you have to know when I meet
people in public, like we have such great conversations
because it's like all the ice is broken and like they just kind of tell me about their lives. And
I love that part. I love that all these people are invested in what I'm doing, you know what I mean?
And I hear so many interesting stories from them. So I like that part of it for sure. So as long as
I can be authentic and we're interesting, I'm game, you know? And you know, in one of the episodes as Mary's leaving,
they like, she and Cody have this like funny laugh
and like they have a moment where they were laughing.
And I wonder if, you know,
that will be the next chapter of your show
is that once now that this is done, the herd is done,
everyone really kind of moves on,
you, I mean, you know, that you guys can laugh
and have your co-grandparenting moments together, you know?
Of course, that would be wonderful.
There is a lot of work Cody would need to do
with his children a lot.
So it won't be soon, I don't think.
Yeah.
Yeah, so like, but you know, there's always a lot of interaction. So it won't be soon, I don't think. Yeah. Yeah.
So like, but you know, there's always a lot of interaction.
Christine and I really do have fun with our kids and there's always something going on.
You know, I mean, they always and Mary and Cody and Robin always have something going
on too.
So
and as Robin said, you know, crying, I feel like the idiot that was left here and I wanted
to sit on a porch with my sister wives.
What if a year from now,
they say Cody is courting this.
I don't think it'll happen, but I don't, you never know.
I really don't think so because he doesn't really even embrace the LDS faith
anymore. Like he doesn't even
consider himself really a Mormon or LDS anymore. And I just think he really did decide it was too
much for him to just manage. He really does love Robin. It appears they have a great relationship.
That's wonderful. I don't foresee it. That's wonderful. You know, I don't
foresee it. I don't.
So, so none of you guys really, I remember watching the show and
it seemed like oftentimes you kind of have like your own
little church going like, you bring out the scriptures or
whatever. Yeah. And then you know, and then Mary felt she
wanted to go to this old church where you're like, she even goes
there anymore to get like her release? But does anybody is anybody really active in any
other church where you actually attend like a brick and mortar church on a regular basis?
Um, interestingly enough, you're going to see some of that play out this season.
Okay. So yeah, good. Well, I so enjoyed getting to know you on a more personal level. Yeah, there's
something about this show, it's unlike any other. And it's very calming too. Do people
tell you that too? Yeah, I know they really do. Like the simpleness of it and like, there's
just something that's like, you know, the same way people say, Oh God, I can't watch
this housewife shows anymore because they're fighting,
it gives me anxiety or the same way. Some people go,
I like the Hallmark channel because I know no one's getting murdered.
It's like, even though there's drama and stuff with you guys,
there's something that the way it's shot and the familiarity that I think that's
why people can keep coming back and like really look forward to it.
Do you hear that a lot?
Yeah. And I love too, that multi-gen will watch it.
So like I get, I meet these women,
they're in their like early twenties,
like, oh, I watch it with my mom,
or I hear that sisters, they all like watch,
they put the kids to bed
and they all call each other during the show.
Like it provides this very interesting format
for people to connect, which I think is awesome.
What a fun extra side benefit, right?
That we're providing a way for people to connect
with their families, their friends.
What about the fact that then there was another show
Seeking Sisterwise?
Did you ever watch it?
It was always too much.
Because you have to understand,
for us, plural marriage is very sacred.
And there's some very specific
rules about no intimacy outside of marriage. Like those, it's, we are a family structure.
This isn't just like, Hey, I'm going to go cruising and get a girlfriend or whatever. Like,
I always felt like it was definitely not who we were. And so it was a little cringy for me
to watch. Cause I'm like, I hope people don't think that that's who we are. Cause it was just
a different way of approaching. Yeah. I mean, I hope people don't think that that's who we are. Cause it was just a different way of approaching
Quiggin.
Yeah. I mean, I watched it and it was interesting,
but yeah, it didn't,
it was felt very different from your show.
And also sometimes it felt like the wife was willing
to have a sister wife because she just really wanted
a friend.
And then when she found out the girl didn't really want
to hang out with her and she really wanted to
screw the husband.
Then she was like,
Oh, I thought I was going to get a friend out of this.
So it's very weird and very different.
Yeah. Last question.
Did you ever hear from people over the years that did seek
the polygamous lifestyle because they liked what was displayed
in your show and thought, I would like this.
Over the years, there's been a handful of people maybe,
you know what I mean, that have looked into it.
But you have to understand, there's a lot of people
who are actually living polygamy in the United States.
Not hundreds of thousands,
but there definitely are a lot of people.
Usually it's part of our religion, right? Hey, and these guys have
all got their baby mamas. I mean, is that, you know, fun? I mean, it's a really weird
version of what we do, like a very distorted, watered down version. But I think I am really
grateful because we are no longer weird. Like, yes, we're unique and that's all that's interesting. But there used to
be such a stigma. And there used to be so much fear and we had to
be our kids had to be so secret. They were worried about the
social repercussions. And now, you know, it's not weird.
They're like, Oh, oh, yeah, I watched that show. Or I've seen
that show. Okay, okay. And I'm like, I'm really glad that we have potentially allowed people to be a little bit more
open because this is where bad things happen when you have to be secret.
That's where evil men flourish.
Yeah, very true. Well, I, um, the show is every Sunday night.
I think we have a few episodes left and you do and tell everybody like where they can
follow you and anything else you want to tell them. So definitely check out the show on on
Sunday nights on TLC. And then I really I'm a big Instagram girl. So definitely, you know,
Janelle Brown 17 on Instagram. That's where I am a lot of the time, as far as forward-facing.
Well, awesome.
Well, thank you so much.
You bet.
All right, see you later.
Thanks.
All right, you guys, thank you so much.
You know where to go, howthermcdonald.net
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