When “Sister Wives” premiered on 26 September 2010, people were fascinated by the polygamous lifestyle of the patriarch, Kody Brown, his three wives at the time, and 12 children with the 13th, Truely, on the way. Things became even more captivating once people learned that polygamy was illegal in all 50 states, meaning the family was crossing the line.
Sadly, although the family dynamic worked for a while, as of early March 2023, three of four wives and most of their children left Kody. Gwendlyn Brown was one of those children, and went through arguably the most significant lifestyle change. She moved to a different state, had a noticeable positive personality change, started attending college, met her girlfriend, became engaged, and plans to marry her in mid-2023.
Her newfound distance made her realize many things could have been better. Gwendlyn also concluded in hindsight that her mom’s spiritual divorce was the right decision. Here’s the untold truth about Gwendlyn’s life in a polygamous family, and after her mom left the plural marriage.
Who is Gwendlyn Brown?
Gwendlyn Genielle Brown, born on 15 October 2021, was the fourth child of Christine, née Allred, Brown, and Kody Brown. She has three biological older siblings: Aspyn Thompson and Mykelti Padron; a brother, Paedon Rex Brown, and two younger siblings, sisters Ysabel Paige Brown and Truely Grace Brown.
She is bisexual, engaged, and about to marry someone
Although her sexuality was not the primary topic of “Sister Wives,” Gwendlyn came out as bisexual in October 2022. Her mother realized this much earlier when Gwendlyn’s former sibling Leon Brown, started going by the pronouns they/them, and joined the LGBTQ+ community.
Gwendlyn met her fiance, Beatriz Queiroz, while working in a fast-food restaurant in Arizona., and asked her out after having a crush on her for about a year. The two became engaged after two months of dating in December 2022, moved in together after four, and had an engagement party in Arizona in February 2023. Gwendlyn announced her marriage would take place in July 2023.
Gwendlyn was linked to three women before Beatriz. She was close to Hayden Mae, who appeared in many pictures with her and her large family. Additionally, Gwendlyn apparently jokingly proposed to a woman named Angela “Joyce” Chappell in the comments of one of her social media posts. Finally, her followers linked to her high school prom date, Parker Farley. However, she hasn’t been open about her sexuality, previous flings, or crushes. Thus, how quickly she moved from dating to scheduling a marriage ceremony speaks volumes about her love for Beatriz.
Gwendlyn is the only sibling who openly discusses family issues
Gwendlyn stands out from her siblings for being the only YouTube vlogger. While others have active social media profiles, especially Ysabel and Paedon, they primarily focus on posting images of important events, funny videos on TikTok, or answering funny fan questions. Even when asked a serious question and they respond, their answers are usually neutral and carefully chosen.
In contrast, Gwendlyn regularly watches “Sister Wives” episodes, and voices her opinion on what happened, even if her truth may hurt. Furthermore, she keeps her fans up-to-date about significant changes in her life when other siblings leave those dramatic moments for the TV show cameras. Fans particularly loved that she commented on every episode of the 17th season of the show in late 2022 and early 2023.
Gwendlyn and Ysabel at Open House. pic.twitter.com/fj8fC4eJKF
— Christine Brown (@rosecolored6) August 17, 2017
She was unafraid and unapologetic; for instance, she disliked how Kody and Robyn called her mom ‘no longer a part of the family’ because she left. Gwendlyn believes her mom is still a family member, even if the distance separates them, or they have problems.
Gwendlyn used the example of Beatriz, whom she introduced to her YouTube audience on Valentine’s Day in 2023. Her fiancé’s father divorced her mother years ago, and both started living separate lives, yet everyone still considers him a part of the family. She also had no problems calling out Kody, who claimed that he didn’t give up on Mary Brown, but told the camera that he no longer felt romantic or sexual attraction.
She thought Kodi was manipulative at times
Although Gwendlyn was sad to part ways with her siblings after her mom announced that she’d spiritually divorced Kody after 25 years in November 2021, she was also happy for her. She stated that she took no sides during their arguments. because she loved them both. Yet, because Gwendlyn noticed her mother was unhappy due to the lack of love and affection, she told her mom, ‘Good for you!’ She was elated when she learned they would relocate to a different state.
Moreover, Gwendlyn liked Meri and thought she was minding her business and trying to live peacefully. Thus, she felt it was manipulative of her dad to keep Meri in the dark, giving her false hope that they would fix their loveless relationship. That made her wonder what benefit her dad gets from having multiple women to whom he doesn’t give time and energy, speculating if he sees them as trophies and a path to heaven in the Mormon religion.
Her fiancé thought Kody was super fun and liked him, but she detested how he talked to Gwendlyn and concluded he speaks meanly to some family members. Gwendlyn suspects Kody’s verbal aggressiveness and lack of understanding come from the frustration that most of his children have grown up. In her opinion, because they are teenagers and adults with personal views, he can no longer influence them, so he finds it harder to talk to them.
She called out her father’s medical hypocrisy
Gwendly openly thought it was hypocritical that Kody and Robyn weren’t vaccinated while Meri, Janelle and Christine were. After all, Kody feared the coronavirus the most, imposed stringent rules at home, and refused to leave home to visit his children he had with other wives. For instance, Kody cited COVID-19 worries for not attending his daughter’s spine surgery to treat scoliosis in September 2022; Ysabel went through it alone, and Christine raised $50,000 to fund it. He also missed Ysabel’s high school enrollment for the same reason.
She isn’t a fan of his father’s self-proclaimed patriarchy
In the fourth episode of season 17, Kody told his three wives that he would be the head of the household again and expected them to conform to the patriarchy. However, Gwendlyn laughed in his face and immediately replied that Robyn is a girl boss and the other three wives are equally headstrong and consider marriage equal. She added that she recognized he was desperately trying to be a patriarch and a leader, and felt bad because that was not the case and never will be.
She won’t join a polygamous family
As of early 2023, no Brown children showed curiosity about joining or starting a polygamous family. Gwendlyn no longer practices the religion she was born into, Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), a fundamentalist Mormon sect, because the church excommunicated her family when Kody divorced Meri in 2014 or when the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Additionally, her mom’s aunt wrote a book about leaving the religion at 50. She made strong accusations, and Gwendlyn commented on Patreon that the faith made her mom ‘a nervous, insecure person.’ Her dad agrees with his children and understands that most are drawn to Christianity. He always clarified that he desired polygamy, but permitted his kids to choose religion individually.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQ6ddavL-i/
Gwendlyn is autistic
Gwendlyn revealed that she was on the autism spectrum, receiving the diagnosis as an adult. Although fans noticed some minor signs of the disorder, she only mentioned it in season 17, when her younger sister Truely wore t-shirts supporting people with autism. However, viewers with a keen eye have spotted some hints that Truely may have autism too, and the keywords “truely brown autism” were a trending Google search.
She regrets not having an active father
While she reviewed the 10th episode of season 17, Gwendlyn became emotional seeing how involved Kody was with Robyn’s children. She stated she was happy for them, and sad because she couldn’t see them often. She got even more emotional reflecting on herself returning from kindergarten, eating her entire lunch, or making friends; instead of both parents waiting for her, listening to her experience, advising her, and cheering her on, it was ‘always her mom and never her dad.’
However, Gwendlyn didn’t want to make it seem that he never cared. She pointed out that Kody would take all kids out for ice cream when they got sick, and shared other positive stories.
With that in mind, she defended Christine against Kody’s claims that she poisoned her children’s minds against him. Gwendlyn remarked that her mom perhaps loved Kody more than their children. As such, she admitted she could be the culprit for a strained relationship, because she kept telling her mom how she felt about her father’s absence.
Gwendlyn doesn’t know her father’s job, but doesn’t disregard a popular theory
Kody and the TV producers never specified his occupation, and “Sister Wives” only presented him as ‘a salesman’. The number of guesses reduced over the years when the family started earning salaries from TLC. He and some family members also created Cameo accounts to record custom videos, or reply to fan messages for a fee.
However, the mystery never faded, and because Gwendlyn was so candid online, viewers questioned her about it. She admitted that her dad saying he has ‘work to do’ has confused her; she does not know what it is besides ‘investing in things.’
However, Gwendlyn agreed with the viewers that his occupation might be something the audience or the local community dislikes. Because he was conservative, Gwendlyn stated that the fan’s theory that Kody was in the gun business is plausible. However, although he was spotted at several gun shows, she thinks he never admitted what he did for a living due to political conflict or state laws.
She defended Leon Brown for pursuing personal peace
Gwendlyn was disappointed that TLC mentioned her sexuality when the show focused on her parents’ divorce. She felt exploited, looked out of place, and even mad when the producers asked the question. In her opinion, they wanted to portray her as ‘another queer’ in the family, after Leon Brown came out as transgender in 2022.
When she watched an episode in which her dad named Leon, Paedon, Aurora, Dayton and Breanna as the children that don’t fit well with the rest of the family, Gwendlyn defended Leon, recogniing that Leon intentionally distanced themselves from the family for their emotional health. She added that he was always the odd one out because he was a single child to Meri and Kodi, and one of the oldest siblings, while others had biological and half-siblings close in age. Additionally, Leon had to find a safe community elsewhere since the family’s former Mormonism sect was conservative, unkind to LGBTQ+ people, and somewhat against transsexuality.
She has a funny side and loves to tease
Many of her statements got blown out of proportion, but this hasn’t stopped Gwendlyn from being herself. For example, Instagram verified her account and granted her a blue checkmark in December 2022. She commented on the achievement with ‘When your parents get divorced, and you get their leftover fame. Verified b*tches.’
Moreover, in February 2022, she shared her discovery via Instagram Stories to tease her father for declining recognition. Gwendlyn also demonstrated that when she typed “Kody Brown” into the Google search bar, the top result showed “Christine Brown’s ex-husband” instead of listing personal information. Half-jokingly, she also revealed that she wants American actress Jennifer Coolidge to officiate her wedding.
Gwendlyn accused her father of being physically abusive
Although Brown is a publicly-know family, which makes it complicated for them to sweep issues under the rug, family members have hidden things over the years. In light of speaking up more often, Gwendlyn recognized that her father was physically abusive when she was young.
He already confessed to throwing her in the air to distract and scare her from doing something as a baby. Then, she remembers having bruises from the spanking he would give her for misbehaving. In her opinion, ‘spanking is abusive and an excessive way to discipline your children, and there are better ways that don’t leave emotional scars.’
Gwendlyn was also unsurprised while watching an episode when Kody shouted at her mom, after n she informed him of the divorce, and her planned move to Utah. She stated that he’s ‘yelled like this at her before,’ meaning this was not new behavior, and alleged that his true side is coming out.
She also defended him during allegations in early 2023
Despite all her gripe about how her dad treated her and her mom and siblings, Gwendlyn loves him, expressing that their relationship has improved since her mom left him. Because of her education and work, Gwendlyn found an apartment in Arizona with her fiancé, meaning she lives closer to her father than her mother.
When unsubstantiated rumors started circulating that her father had an inappropriate relationship with Aurora, his adopted daughter from Robyn’s previous marriage to David Jessop, Gwendlyn defended him. Commenting on a picture when some people concluded that he was making out with Aurora, she stated that his children used to give him an innocent smooch, but that’s where it stopped. She found the idea that there was something more, horrifying.
https://www.facebook.com/FedregsAdvisorofficial/posts/pfbid027ctTSfcaYS6LsMRgqNiq4NCwmJvrxhTrVnFr2LePADJk2xyttDr4ginGzut9T7AXl
Gwendlyn doesn’t see Robyn’s children anymore but loves Janelle and her kids
Even since some of her biological siblings followed her mom from the former family property, Coyote Pass, in Flagstaff, Arizona, to Salt Lake City, Utah, her relationship with former half-siblings, Robyn’s children, has deteriorated. In a YouTube video she posted in December 2022, Gwendlyn declared that she doesn’t like Robyn as a person. Moreover, she revealed that seeing her in the show makes her like her even less.
In March 2023, she clarified things didn’t change and even worsened. Although she has regularly attended the Northern University of Arizona since 2019, Gwendlyn didn’t visit her half-siblings or adopted siblings living with her dad and Robyn. However, she occasionally sees the older children around their town. Neither they nor Robyn showed up when she tried to reach out by inviting them to her engagement party. On second thoughts, she suspected that they did not want to go, or Robyn determined that she was an unsafe person to be around.
In contrast, she loved seeing Janelle become confident in January 2023, long after she split from Kody, and called her ‘cool as hell.’ Consequently, she supports the fan’s petition for Christine and Janelle to get a spin-off, and thinks that the two empower each other. After all, Janelle credited Christine for the courage to leave Kody, and their children vacationed together their whole childhood. Although she wouldn’t want to see Meri with them, she thought the online hate she got after her catfishing scandal and a spiritual divorce was unjustified.
