As you likely know if you're reading this post right now, Christine Brown left Kody Brown in early November.
But here is what has now been confirmed, much to the surprise of Sister Wives viewers everywhere:
Christine Brown did NOT apparently leave the world of reality television in the process.
Here. Allow us to explain...
On Tuesday, Christine and Kody's son, Paedon, jumped on TikTok to film a video about his taste in women. After saying he was into "goth girls," one follower changed topics and asked the following question:
"Will your mom return if there's another season of Sister Wives?"
Replied the 23-year old:
"They are filming currently."
Wow, huh?
This was an unexpected answer for multiple reasons.
Last year, it took several weeks after the conclusion of Sister Wives Season 15 for TLC to announce that Season 16 was on the way.
Now, Paedon is telling us that Season 17 is absolutely a go, despite the series struggling with ratings in the past.
Moreover, he's saying that Christine will play a role on it... despite not even being married to Kody anymore.
What might be going on here? We can think of a few possibilities.
ONE: Sister Wives Season 17 was actually shot a very long time ago.
The storylines currently airing each Sunday night on TLC took place way back in late 2020, as the Browns have been debating how to best handle the COVID-19 outbreak.
It's possible that cameras kept rolling... that Season 17 picks up in 2021 some time when Christine was still with Kody... and that the filming to which Paedon is referring at the moment simply refers to confessionals and/or reshoots.
TWO: Christine will simply remain part of the cast while living in Utah.
Around the same time she announced her split from Kody on November 2, Christine also told fans that she had relocated to her native state.
She's since been sharing photos from her new home, surrounded by many of her kids, clearly satisfied with her decision.
It's conceivable producers want to keep Christine in the fold and that she'll be featured on Season 17 from afar, giving us an idea of what life is like for someone who recently walked away from a plural marriage.
THREE: This is all just scripted nonsense.
As mentioned previously, the ratings for Sister Wives Season 15 were on the downswing for awhile.
Could Christine be faking her departure from Kody and company just to generate interest? Could all the tension we've witnessed of late between Kody and his spouses be fake? Phony? Written by producers?
One must always consider this possibility when talking about a reality television show.
The bottom line, however, is that Sister Wives is coming back with new episodes, likely in late 2022 or early 2023.
About 10 weeks ago, Christine wrote the following on Instragram:
"After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave.
"We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family."
In the coming weeks, it sounds like we'll learrn a lot more about what went into this decision.
In a teaser clip for the January 23 episode, Christine speaks about her strained romance with Kody and hints at what ultimately led to their break-up.
“He said, ‘I’m not interested in having an intimate marriage anymore,'” Christine says.
“I’m not okay staying in a marriage where there’s no intimacy.”