Sister Wives had a massive shake up this past season after 17 seasons on the air. Christine Brown left the family, and moved back to Utah. While she was the first person to leave the polygamist family, she was certainly not the last- and now there is only one wife remaining.
While Christine Brown is synonymous with Sister Wives, we got to know her as an individual person. Our interview ran the gamut. We chatted about her future, and asked questions from romantic to personal. A little giveaway, she has gone on a date and she may be blushing about someone special.
We also included reader submitted questions in this exclusive article. Edited by Catori for length and brevity focusing on a conversational tone. Original interview on Zoom.
Catori Utah
What’s something that most people don’t know about you?
Christine Brown:
So I would say that I actually was extremely shy as a kid and as a teenager, so shy did not have friends. I had a couple of friends and that’s it throughout my whole life. I always felt like as long as you have those one or two good friends you’re fine, and that’s all I had. It wasn’t until college when I had a public speaking class in college (was) when I realized, one, I love public speaking. And two, I just found my confidence through a public speaking class. From that point on I was just more outspoken. But up until then, I was just too nervous about making friends and I just didn’t do it. I was so shy.
It (even) takes a lot to leave my house some days. I know everybody feels like that, but some days it takes a lot to leave my house and to be like ‘okay, I’m gonna interact with people today and suck it up for a little bit. ’And I am kind of like that still sometimes.
Catori Utah:
Do you think the show helped you with that?
Christine Brown:
The show definitely helped me with that because they help you (articulate) and formulate your words so they make sense. Our producers are fabulous with the way that they pose questions.
Catori Utah
That’s so great! So what does your typical day look like now that you’re back in Utah?
Christine Brown
So I have several home-based businesses and work from home.
I get Truely off to school and then I go work out almost daily because I gotta have that workout.
So I work out, shower, get downstairs about 9:30 or 10 and start working. And whether it’s with my clothing business LuLaRoe or with Plexus- Plexus is just answering a lot of people’s questions, and a constant communication with people.
It’s a lot of customer service and it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience just to talk with people and when they start feeling better, it’s like, ‘oh yay, we’re accomplishing something.’ It’s so nice.
Editor Note: Plexus is a leader in gut health, weight loss, nutrition, and skincare and offers clean wellness products and supplements with a 60-Day Money-Back guarantee. Here’s Christine Brown’s Plexus link
So that’s mostly it. It’s working and then when it’s time to pick up Truely from school, I turn into a mom taxi forever. There’s so many things that kids need to do during the day. So it’s mom taxi and then after that it’s either working or hanging out with kids and grandkids a lot of the time.
I really have a very flexible life and I can do a lot of different things as long as I get my quota of stuff done- but my schedule’s mine because I work at home. I stay busy on purpose.
Catori Utah
What are your goals at this juncture of your life?
Christine Brown
Definitely a permanent romantic relationship would be freaking amazing. That would be just lovely. Spending more time with my kids and then finding this piece of calm. A little bit of calm would be really nice. Vacationing, and vacationing like crazy. I just want to vacation a lot and go out and have fun. If I can put my (ideal) life in a nutshell, I just want to have fun.
Catori Utah
Where was the last place that you went on a vacation?
Christine Brown
I went with Janelle and Maddie to Hawaii for Plexus actually, and Aspyn was my plus one. As you can (probably) imagine, it was an awesome trip. We did this tour where we saw a Hammerhead shark. We went snorkeling and I put my head down in the water and there was a black hammerhead shark-a black hammerhead shark!! I swallowed a bunch of water.
Catori Utah
Do you have any fun hobbies that you’ve taken up since your move?
Christine Brown
Cooking classes, ironically. I have the whole Cooking with Christine on Instagram! People actually get measuring tapes out when they do pastries- it’s crazy! We also just started playing Dungeons and Dragons- but really, anything with my kids and hanging out with them has been so much fun.
Catori Utah
Where is your spiritual journey taking you?
Christine Brown
So- spiritual, that is something that’s such a difficult question because I’ve come so far from what I used to believe in, and as far as there being a God and a higher power, all I know is that I can’t do life by myself, and I know that there has to be a higher power that helps orchestrate everything in order for me to feel like I can just have more of a peaceful outlook, I guess. I like to think that there’s destiny in things and there’s faith in things, and in order to believe that, there has to be some sort of a higher power. I don’t know exactly what that looks like and I don’t think I have to. I think that’s the best part of all of it. I don’t need to….I don’t need to know what’s out there that’s different.
All I know is that I feel at peace thinking that there’s something greater and bigger than me that helps orchestrate everything, but lets us have free agency. As long as we treat people with kindness and respect, and just love people, (that’s magical). So being kind to people, being loving, being accepting, I think is all part of this spiritual journey that we live.
Catori Utah
So you still believe in a higher power, someone that’s orchestrating things, but do you think that you’ll be finding a new church? Or are you happy with where you’re at?
Christine Brown
I won’t be joining another church. I don’t like the idea of having anybody between me and that higher power, you know? He’s God. I just want a relationship with him and I feel like if there is a God, he’s gonna be like me, and I just want a personal relationship with him- and I don’t want anyone in between that. I want to have a good relationship with my kids and with people directly. So no, I’m not looking for an ecclesiastical authority to stand in between me and God. And if I can find a more spiritual existence through acts of kindness- or being in the mountains- that’s where the true connection would come from for me.
Catori Utah:
Everyone is saying that you’re glowing and happy. Do you think that that could probably be attributed to freedom? And on the freedom note, how has it been with your newfound freedom?
Christine Brown:
I would say if anybody is in a spot in their life where they feel like when they look at the next few years of their life and it’s not changing, and it’s not gonna get any better and even though it’s kinda scary to take that leap to change whatever it is they’re living in; they need to take the leap and they need to change their existence.
If they’re not happy with their existence, they need to change it. Because it’s been incredible (for me). It’s been wonderful to just live life for me and focus on Truely and my kids, and just moving forward with joy has been outstanding.
It’s been so great and so fulfilling, and better than anything I’d ever hoped for. It’s kind of intimidating to change, but do what makes the change necessary to live a complete life. Because I think if you’re gonna move forward with joy, and move forward with goodness, and if you do believe in that higher power and you have faith in that higher power, they want you to live your best life too. If you move forward with that joy, then things will just fall into this place like they’re supposed to. And it’s been really magical, really magical actually.
Catori Utah
We love the word magic.
Christine Brown
I don’t know how else to describe it because it’s just been magical and I had no idea that my life could feel so full with just me being me. It’s just been a blessing, and I’m just super grateful for it.
Catori Utah
I’m sure you’ve learned so much and you’ve felt so much in the last little bit, and it’s not to say you’re on the other side, but it just seems like it’s an evolution of who you are..
Christine Brown
It’s the complete next chapter. When you say the other side, it feels like that a little bit. It’s almost like I can see my life through this opposite side of a mirror and it’s almost like I’m the other side of the mirror now and I’m kind of like, I love who I was and I love all of the steps that I’ve taken to get me to here, and I’m never gonna look back and think, ‘oh I wish’ ; there’s no regret, there’s nothing like that. It’s just learning from that. But I feel like it’s such a complete paradigm shift. That’s what it feels like and it’s just more complete. So yeah. It’s just more complete……to just be with me.
Catori Utah
Wow. That’s powerful.
Christine Brown
It does feel powerful, and it’s humbling at the same time as being powerful because I didn’t know that I could ever be not just ‘okay’ with me being me; most importantly- I didn’t know it would feel so great. You can’t completely get rid of your past, and you shouldn’t…No one should, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to! So whatever struggles you go through, I think that they just make you who you are. But I think you have to learn to stand on your own two feet before you make big choices and big changes. So for me, this whole leaving and having a new life has maybe just been me figuring out what do I wanna do? Asking myself what is it that I really want to live for and live with? I really focused on me for a bit, and I thought about that whole flipping word ‘selfish’, I thought, you know, I’m gonna embrace it in a different way. We have to be selfish enough to discover who we actually are in order to feel like we can live a complete life. So it’s been an awesome couple of years of self-discovery.
Catori Utah
Okay…the question everyone wants to ask about! Have you been on a date and how did it go?
Yes (I have) dating’s a blast. It’s an absolute blast… and I just go in with really fun expectations. I just wanna have fun.
I got a matchmaker. I had no confidence in myself in how I looked. I thought it was pretty enough- but not a lot of confidence, because when you’re married to a guy who doesn’t find you attractive and when you’re married to somebody (in general), I think that we have this filter that we see ourselves through, and I saw myself through Kody’s filter- and I thought ‘maybe I’m just not that attractive’.
So (I decided) I almost needed to just jump into the dating scene, but before I could do that I wasn’t ready. (So I decided) I’m just gonna have a matchmaker that does all the work and find somebody for me to go out with. It helped so much. I paid for three dates and (when) they find somebody, they do background checks. I had to make sure they would be safe for Truely.
(When you have a) twelve-year-old kid living in a home- she’s my first priority. So with dating, I needed to find someone that was okay with kids and had kids of their own, someone that was in a previous marriage in a relationship. Because I want someone that has a history with kids- and I just wanted to make sure that it would be comfortable and fun and I would feel attracted to them and attractive (as well). It was wonderful as the first step, but now I date online and it’s been an absolute blast. Just absolute fun. There’s amazing, wonderful men out there that have just been fun to get to know.
Catori Utah
Anyone specific that you’re liking?
Christine Brown
I mean… I don’t know. We will see.
Catori Utah
We love to hear that.
Christine Brown
We will leave it at that.
Catori Utah,
Oh, so there might be…
Christine Brown
We will just leave it at that, Indigo, we’ll just put that teaser…gosh I am blushing.
Catori Utah
Oh, blushing is always good.
Christine Brown:
I know. It’s insane. It’s so bad. I feel like a kid so much. I still blush at fifty, I still blush at fifty and oh my gosh, there’s nothing like dating that makes you blush and I own it.
Catori Utah
What would you like to share about how this is affecting your family?
I think that the secret to life is these relationships we develop with people, and having a support system is really the most important thing; however, you can’t just have like-minded people. You have to make sure you attract the kind of people that are gonna push you and push your boundaries and make you feel a little bit uncomfortable sometimes. And that’s okay too. I think there’s an important balance to both, but you’ve got to have a support system. You have to have people that you rely on and that can rely on you too. I certainly have my best friends or my kids and I love hanging out with them and they’re amazing- but they can’t be my only friends. You can’t stay in a safe place- you have to say yes, and you gotta meet new people and join clubs, and you have to put yourself out there & you’ve got to talk to people. Getting out of your comfort zone and creating relationships with people is super important. I’ve learned that.
Catori Utah
Tell us more about Plexus!
So Plexus is something that happened on accident. I just started taking it and felt great and with feeling great, I think that really helped me get out more. Before my stomach hurt all the time, and I wasn’t really digesting food and didn’t feel good about it and my self-confidence wasn’t there.
I think part of the glow was just having a healthy life as well and making better choices for my health too. That’s probably part of it because I have more energy than I had before and I certainly feel like leaving my house, and I think you’ve gotta feel good in order to leave your house too. I’ve been super grateful for the confidence that’s come with it and just feeling better has been outstanding.
But the community that we’ve built, gosh, I can’t even tell you the amazing community we’ve built, because you’ve gotta have that support in life through everything you do, you know?
For Christine Browns Plexus link found here
Catori Utah
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