After nineteen seasons on the air, the Sister Wives children are admitting that they were used and abused by TLC for free labor. So, how did this happen, and did anyone step in on their behalf? Keep reading for further details on what went down.

Sister Wives Kids Used & Abused By TLC

When Sister Wives first premiered in 2010, viewers were fascinated by Kody Brown and his three wives. Their dynamic was different and unique as they all shared one home. The Browns were also courting a fourth wife, Robyn Brown, who had three children from a previous marriage. Yet, Kody’s dozen children were just as fascinating as the parents. In Season 1, Kody’s third wife, Christine Brown Woolley, was expecting the family’s thirteenth child. TLC showed how the older kids took over parental roles while they were all raised as one unit. Christine noted that Savanah was her sister wife’s daughter, but she saw her as her own.

Now, the kids are speaking up about what really went down during filming, mainly Gwendlyn Brown. She is the daughter of Kody and Christine, plus one of the more outspoken Brown kids. When the show began filming, she was just eight years old and admitted that she loved the attention. It was a fun brag, and her siblings were also thrilled with what was going on. It became their new normal, and they adopted the cameramen as family. Plus, the money and notoriety from the show helped her family escape “poverty” status.

Initially, the Sister Wives daughter appreciated what the show did for her and her family:

“We just got thrown into fame and thrown into money. And I stopped wanting and needing things. Life is a lot easier for a kid that’s not going hungry. It was quite a blessing initially.”

However, she admitted that she felt she could not have a hard day as there was limited privacy. Gwendlyn also noted that the kids never got paid for their time on the show:

“The network only paid the parents. I’m not sure if they did or didn’t expect the parents to pay us kids, but we weren’t paid.”

Christine Makes Moves

Despite the parents getting paid for Sister Wives, the children were an asset to the series. So, they should have gotten a cut, whether from TLC or the adults giving them a stipend. Eventually, Gwendlyn Brown’s mother, Christine Brown Woolley, stepped up and made changes. She began to pay her kids for the time that they worked, but Gwen admits that it was not a lot, or even fair. Christine has stated that money was put away for the kids when they grew up, but they were not paid at the start. As for TLC, they stated that: “compensation is handled in accordance with contractual commitments and applicable labor laws and regulations.”