'We're Not Felons, We're Family' Says TLC 'Sister Wives' Star With 4 Wives, 16 Children
Oct. 5 2010, Published 4:21 a.m. ET
Before he achieved fame and infamy on TLC by starring in the docu-drama that features his “plural marriage” lifestyle, Kody Brown wasn’t hiding from the public.
In fact, the patriarch of Sister Wives, which has emerged as a hit for the cable network, gave an interview last year to a magazine produced by college students and defended his lifestyle.
“We’re not felons, we’re family,” he told plainSpeak, a newsmagazine published by Northwest College (Wyoming) students.
Kody and his four wives and their 13 children are featured on TLC’s new hit show, which has caused police in Utah to launch an investigation. Polygamy has been outlawed in Utah since the 19th century.
He has acknowledged in interviews that displaying his lifestyle on national TV was risky but RadarOnline.com discovered that Kody was openly discussing it last year. He previously lived in Wyoming before moving to Utah.
And, according to the Powell Tribune, Kody points out the hypocrisy of society accepting people having multiple sexual partners but looking down at his lifestyle.
“If you take off the need for secrecy in polygamy then you will open the door more and more,” Brown said in last year’s interview.
And he addressed the perception of some people that polygamous men simply want to have sex with multiple partners. “If I wanted sex with a lot of women there is a lot of barhopping I could do,” he told the magazine. “It’s not something I’m interested in. I’m interested in a family, raising my children.
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“If it were all about sex there’s just other easier venues, way easier.”
VIDEO: TLC's New Show 'Sister Wives' Features One Man, 3 Wives, 13 Children
The author of the article told the Tribune that Kody isn’t trying to force his view of marriage on others, but wants it decriminalized.
Kody’s four wives are Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robin and they all live in Lehi, Utah. Learn more about the family.
VIDEO: Jealousy Rocks Sister Wives
TLC has received some strong negative reaction to the show but also good ratings, as Sister Wives veers from a traditional reality show format and has strong documentary-style story telling elements.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: New TLC Show Features Polygamist Family With Four Wives
Early episodes have focused on Kody “courting” Robin and telling his family that he will be making her wife Number 4. The Washington Post called the show “refreshingly frank and entertaining” while noting that: “The Browns know that their definition of marriage is difficult to describe to outsiders; yet the outside world cannot help but be curious.”