Christine Brown isn’t holding back anymore. The Sister Wives star, now remarried in a monogamous relationship, is revealing the hidden struggles behind the family’s reality show facade in her new memoir, Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom. Christine is blowing the lid off of everything — from a secret opioid addiction after knee surgery to the personal sacrifices she made to keep the peace on set, Christine may be setting up Season 20 to be the most explosive yet.
Christine recently opened up to People about what went on behind the facade of the happy family unit the Browns portrayed. Brown admitted that though the family’s TLC series always aspires to portray the family authentically, her new book will tell the “rest of the story that wasn’t told before.” She continued, “I still felt there was a huge part that I kept hidden just to be a peacemaker, to make everything work.” The alliterative title is appropriate for Christine’s journey, who not only left an unhappy polygamous marriage, but also left an old faith behind for “what faith becomes” as she moves forward in her new life with husband David Wooley.
The Most Shocking “Hidden” Detail From Brown’s Memoir
Christine admitted to putting up a front when filming Sister Wives, but the details in her memoir reveal exactly how much of a double-life reality stars can keep concealed behind the scenes. The reality series began filming in 2010, and Christine outlines how, after knee surgery in 2016, she became addicted to the painkiller oxycodone, a fact she kept hidden while filming. She claims that prior to this surgery, ibuprofen or aspirin were the strongest painkillers she was used to taking.
The description of withdrawal symptoms as feeling like she had the flu and aching from head to toe, and the relief she experienced taking the prescribed pain medication, will be relatable experiences for many Americans, who have been exposed to the opioid epidemic that has had its clutches on the nation for decades. Recalling the euphoric experience of taking the painkiller before filming confessional interviews for Sister Wives, Brown explained in her memoir: “Oxy made the set fine. I could do anything on oxy.” But she also experienced withdrawal symptoms, low moods, and a fixation on when she would be able to take the next pill. Luckily, she had the help of family, as her sister’s wife Janelle Brown‘s daughter, Maddie Brown, intervened, telling her sister mom to figure out whatever she needed to do because the family needed her back to normal.
Christine Made a Change For a Family Celebration
It was Maddie’s upcoming wedding that finally convinced Christine it was time to make a change. She detailed how her husband Kody Brown took charge of the small children, while she spent a weekend crying, watching Pretty Woman on repeat, with her mom over to take care of her. Christine detailed submitting control by offering her store of painkillers to her mother and her daughters to dole out as needed during her transition from dependency.
Christine didn’t shy away from details that showed kicking her need for the opioid wasn’t as simple as spending a weekend in Bridget Jones mode. Instead, she was vulnerable, sharing that she felt “unbalanced” for months after she stopped taking the painkiller, as she struggled to get back to her normal routine. When denied access to the medication, she experienced anger, and even now when she thinks of the “high” she used to experience, she admits to feeling temptation. Christine summarized the ordeal by writing: “It was that fast to become addicted and then that long to find myself again.”
Knowing that she had her children needing her, and having adult children capable of intervening, helped Christine to prioritize family and to gain the strength to end her dependency. With Christine’s memoir releasing just weeks before Season 20 of Sister Wives begins to air, it begs the question of how much, if any, of the writing process will be shared in the upcoming season. Christine’s life with David has so far appeared as transparent and authentic as she purports to be in her life these days, though still filming a reality series about her disjointed family that requires a certain amount of “smile for the camera” from everyone involved.
Sister Wives, Season 20 premieres on Sunday, September 28, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
