Sister Wives showed the heartbreaking impact Kody Brown‘s strained relationship with his wife Janelle Brown has had on their children. Their son Gabe broke down in tears as he recalled how Kody called him up on his birthday and completely forgot it was his special day. Kody was nowhere to be seen when Janelle shared photos from her Thanksgiving family gathering last month.
“In January, I got Covid. I didn’t even have a fever, I just lost my smell,” Gabe, 21, said in a confessional during the Dec. 4 episode, reports PEOPLE. “October rolls around, specifically October 11, my birthday, and Dad calls me. We had a small discussion about how bad my Covid was.”
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Gabe said he did not mention the call came on his birthday, hoping that his father would remember that at some point in the call. He did not. “And so to him it was just a phone call, just asking me about Covid,” Gabe said before completely breaking into tears. “It was a lot worse than just a phone call for me.”
A couple of hours later, Kody called Gabe back after suddenly remembering it was his birthday. Gabe said this was the last time he ever spoke to his father. Gabe is one of six children Kody shares with Janelle. Since Janelle is close friends with Christine Brown, who ended her spiritual union with Kody in November 2021, there has been speculation that Janelle could be the next “Sister Wife” to leave him. Kody is now in a platonic relationship with his first wife, Meri Brown, and still legally married to his fourth wife, Robyn Brown. Kody was never legally married to Janelle or Christine.
Gabe’s heartbreaking confession aired just days after Christine told the Reality Life with Kate Casey podcast that Kody was not present in their children’s lives. She recalled telling them that their father loves them and was coming to visit soon but realized that they no longer believed her. “I saw it in their eyes that they didn’t really, they didn’t really feel like they had a great connection with him,” she said, adding that it hurt them to see what Kody was like with his other children.
“They were awkward around him and nervous. And it’s tough because all I want for my kids is to have a great relationship with their dad, are you kidding me?” Christine told Kate Casey, via PEOPLE. “I don’t wanna raise my kids with daddy issues. That’s super, super sad.” Christine believes Kody missed out on “some seriously wicked, awesome kids, and missing out on knowing them” and noted that their children are “phenomenal” people.
Kody and Christine also share six children. He has one daughter with Meri and two with Robyn. Kody also adopted Robyn’s three children with her first husband. New episodes of Sister Wives air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
