Gwendlyn Brown Reveals Drawbacks After ‘Sister Wives’ Lifted Her Family Out of ‘Poverty Situation’

Gwendlyn Brown revealed how dire things were for her family before landing Sister Wives lifted them out of a “poverty situation,” even though the new lifestyle came with a number of drawbacks.

“We just got thrown into fame and thrown into money. And I stopped wanting and needing things,” Gwendlyn told Teen Vogue in a profile published on Tuesday, May 14. Sister Wives premiered in September 2010 on TLC and is currently in its 19th season.

“Life is a lot easier for a kid that’s not going hungry. It was quite a blessing initially,” she explained.

Gwendlyn was only 8 years old when she began filming Sister Wives, which focused on her dad, Kody Brown, and his then-plural family of four wives: Christine Brown, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown. He has a total of 18 kids between each of the women. Gwendlyn is one of six children Kody, 56, shares with ex Christine, 53.

“I was super into it as a kid,” Gwendlyn told the outlet about initially appearing on the show. The reality star revealed how she and her siblings jockeyed for the attention of camera operators, whom she considered to be her “new uncles.”

However, filming began to take a toll on Gwendlyn, who went through puberty on the show and the constant presence of cameras everywhere became a drain.

“I couldn’t have a hard day,” she said. “There wasn’t a lot of privacy.”

While cameras weren’t allowed in her bedroom, Gwendlyn recalled an incident to the publication where she went outside to yell after getting angry at one of Kody’s wives. “I was so embarrassed,” she said about noticing a cameraman was filming her private moment of frustration, which didn’t end up being shown on the series.

“All that anger and all that publicity. And oftentimes, I even wanted to be angry on camera,” the Utah native explained. “I think there were a few times that I probably [was]. Even if as a kid, you want attention, you can look back at it as an adult and be like, ‘that poor kid.’ Also, poor me now.”

These days, Gwendlyn goes back and forth about her feelings toward appearing on Sister Wives.

“I’m growing a bigger dislike for it. And [in the past] it was like, ‘this is my normal,’” she revealed. “But now it’s like, ‘this does not have to be my normal,’ and it’s weird.”

Gwendlyn has also scaled back her social media presence. She has a YouTube channel where she used to watch back old episodes of Sister Wives and comment on what was going on behind the scenes.

The TLC star also used the channel to reveal she underwent a breast reduction in 2022 and also used the platform to introduce fans to her now-wife, Beatriz Queiroz. However, she hasn’t shared any new videos in 2025.

Sister Wives looks much different today than it did when it premiered. After Christine left Kody in 2021, Meri, 54, and Janelle, 56, also split from the family patriarch, confirming the news during the Sister Wives One-on-One special in January 2023.

Kody and Robyn are now in a monogamous marriage, while Christine married David Woolley in October 2023. Some fans have wondered how the show can continue in future seasons now that Kody and his former sister wives have little contact.