SINCE Janelle Brown announced her split from Kody in December, she's hinted that she's been dissatisfied for years.
Analyzing season two of Sister Wives, body language expert Patti Wood tells The U.S. Sun that Janelle's feelings have been plain to see since the beginning of the show.
Kody was already married to Meri when he wed his second wife, Janelle, in 1993.
But nearly 30 years later in December of 2022, they revealed that they've separated — making Janelle the second wife to leave Kody after Christine.
Their unhappiness with one another has been clear to viewers of season 17 of Sister Wives, who've watched them argue and navigate their split.
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But Patti Wood, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma, says there were obvious signs back in season two that Janelle wasn't happy with Kody.
Janelle, she said, just wanted to be left alone amid Kody's "alpha male" posturing.
"She doesn’t look happy," Wood said.
"She’s not orienting toward him at all. She’s sitting, she’s staying sitting toward her computer, she’s not looking at him in this conversation.
"She has her heart window toward the computer, which says: ‘I’m not going to change or shift from where my priority is and that’s toward the computer.’
"Her head is tilted away from him, and it’s so interesting because that takes him further away from him than necessary."
Kody, meanwhile, could feel this disinterest — and Wood said he was working to get her to shift her focus.
"He is definitely trying to get attention," she said.
"He’s in a very alpha position. He is over her and he’s spread out in a way that surrounds her.
"His arms are out and around her and planted, like ‘I’m gonna stay planted and show my power over you.’"
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According to Wood, this is common body language shown by managers at work who want to act like they’re being intimate but are really showing dominance.
None of Kody's charms worked on Janelle, whose facial expression was "almost disrespectful."
"It's like, ‘Oh God, leave me alone,’" said Wood.
Kody showed that he wanted to "be in charge and have power over" Janelle, projecting, "I am alpha male and I have control over you."
"And she’s like, ‘No, you don’t,’" noted Wood.
That contempt seems to have only worsened over time. Fast-forward to season 17 of the show, and the pair maintained quite a lot of physical distance from one another.
In one clip from the new season, Wood pointed out: "She looks like she’s at least seven feet apart from him, even when it was just the two of them talking.
And though they professed to be working on their relationship, Janelle's body language betrayed that she was done.
"If you look at her shoulders and arm placement, it’s like, 'I give up.'
"'He’s at it again’ would be the bubble above her head."
In other footage, Wood saw "clear contempt" in Janelle's facial expression.
"Once you see one person in a couple show contempt in the relationship, the relationship is over because they’ve lost respect," she explained.
Kody has certainly felt that. In one season 17 clip, he said: “Men don’t feel love from women who don’t respect them.
"I feel like Janelle struggles to respect me or show me respect. It might be an unfair statement, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the way that we argue.
"If you don’t respect me, don’t bother with the love. It just doesn’t work in my world.”
Previously, Wood also analyzed Kody's body language with Christine, noting that he showed "possessiveness" and "ownership" of her back in season one.
In the same scene, Christine's facial expression and body posture showed she wasn't entirely at ease with this dynamic, according to Wood.
