Meri Brown: What To Know About Sister Wives Star's New Boyfriend
Meri Brown became famous after appearing on TLC's "Sister Wives" alongside her husband Kody Brown and sister wives, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown.
However, since the family started appearing on TV screens in 2010, in the hopes of being a representation of polygamy, everything came to a shocking end, with Kody's three original wives all ending their marriages to him. Despite being estranged from Kody for several years, Meri was the last to announce her divorce, going public with the news in January 2023 — just one month after Janelle announced her separation and 14 months after Christine left the polyamorous marriage.
On the show, Meri Brown broke out of the "Sister Wives" world by ending her marriage, after officially relocating to Parowan, Utah, where she was already running her own bed and breakfast, Lizzie's Heritage Inn, and where she had moved her LuLaRoe clothing business as well. Since leaving Kody, Meri has seemingly found success with both her businesses and has genuinely seemed happy to be living her life free of the drama that came from her former marriage. Of course, in addition to living her best life, she also decided to get back out into the dating world. In honor of her birthday in January 2024, she decided to share that she was experiencing love in a new relationship. Here's everything we know about Meri Brown's new romance.
Meri Brown announced she was dating Amos Andrews in January 2024
Meri Brown celebrated her 53rd birthday in January 2024, and as she celebrated, she decided to give her fans a gift as well. It was at that time that Meri Brown announced she was in a new relationship.
Taking to Instagram with several photos, Brown revealed she had been dating her boyfriend, whom she identified only as Amos, since October 2023, and shared that "He's not 6 foot 6, nor is he a pilot, but he loves Christmas almost as much as I do, and we laugh a lot together, both of which are important elements to a relationship!"
She also shared that her rescue dog, Zona, was also very enamored by her new man, and admitted to fans that she had been nervous about announcing the relationship, but decided that the time was right because of the celebration element to her birthday. "I've been keeping this kind of close to me as we've been enjoying the last few months of dating and getting to know each other. As I've considered when and how I wanted to share this fun news and share him with the world ... I knew I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a special way and let you celebrate this with me!"
Amos has been married several times before
While Meri Brown was ecstatic about announcing her new relationship, it wasn't long before stories about Amos Andrews began to surface, such as the news he'd allegedly been married four times.
It's unclear when Andrews wed his first wife, Tracy Smith Lang, but it's reported their marriage ended in divorce in 1994. During that time, they had two children together, a son, Cody, and a daughter, Kristina. His second marriage to Shannon Marie Martin occurred in 1995, in Las Vegas, when she was just 18 and he was 26. After welcoming a daughter together, Tiffany, the two decided to divorce in 2000.
Andrews then wed Christine Andrews in 2002 in Arizona, though the marriage ended in 2004. He then wed his fourth wife, Jennifer Andrews in 2016, but their marriage came to an end in 2021 with their divorce filing citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce, which was granted quickly, also revealed details about Andrews' finances that have added to the negative light cast on him since his relationship with Meri Brown became public.
Amos had financial troubles within some of his marriages
In addition to being married multiple times, Amos Andrews has also had some financial difficulties, particularly in his second marriage to Shannon Marie Martin. When the pair were still married, they wound up filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2000. The type of bankruptcy they filed for is known as "liquidation bankruptcy," meaning they needed to sell their assets to pay back the money they owed. Martin was "discharged" on September 8, 2000, while Andrews' case was closed on September 26.
However, while he didn't file for any bankruptcy protections after that, documents obtained by The Sun from his fourth divorce with Jennifer Andrews showed he was in debt over $20,000 at the time of their marriage dissolution.
In 2021, Amos Andrews had $17,372 in solo credit card debt, which included $3,657 on a Caesars Rewards credit card. Joint debt with his ex-wife saw him also judged responsible for an additional $3,470.50. Overall, his total was $20,482.50. The documents also revealed he was due to come into some money from a personal injury settlement, and he was ordered to pay 50% of it to Jennifer Andrews. That amount was not disclosed.
Amos was accused of refusing to pay child support for one of his kids
Though Amos Andrews is a father of three, in one case, he was accused of refusing to pay child support that was owed from the time of the split. According to documents obtained by The Sun, Andrews was supposed to pay his second wife Shannon Marie Martin, with whom he shares daughter Tiffany, $373 a month in child support beginning on February 1, 2001, and lasting until either Tiffany's 18th birthday or if other legal reasons could be applied. However, in August 2013, Martin took Andrews to court to modify the agreement, claiming he did not make consistent payments from "the time of divorce in 2001 until his wages were garnished in 2008."
She also accused him of consistently being difficult to reach and claimed he had refused to contribute to expenses for Tiffany's daycare, medical expenses, and education, stating she had paid for every extracurricular activity, medical appointment, and even their daughter's braces, glasses, and contacts, all without his help. Her filing came after Andrews had also filed a request to modify on his own, requesting that payments stopped entirely because of a three-month period where Tiffany lived with him. He also accused Martin at the time of causing him financial issues by "freezing" his accounts, something she denied.
One of Amos' ex-wives called him 'fan girl' obsessed with Meri and other reality stars
Meri Brown didn't share how she met Amos Andrews, but one of his ex-wives feels he may have found a way to sneakily orchestrate their introduction because he was obsessed with meeting reality stars from shows he watched.
Speaking to The Sun, one of Andrews' exes, who wished to remain anonymous, said that her ex-husband had watched "Sister Wives" when they lived in Las Vegas, and he had wanted to find where the Brown family lived. She also stated that he was a big fan of the Real Housewives as well. "When we lived in California, a lot of times we would go into Coto de Caza and he would try to find where the Housewives lived. He's kind of fan-girl-obsessed. He would love to run into people like that."
She also indicated that she was willing to guess Andrews had orchestrated a way to meet Meri Brown, especially after she relocated to Parowan, Utah, to run Lizzie's Heritage Inn, which was just a few hours away from his then-residence in Salt Lake City. "I wouldn't be surprised if he took his ex to the bed and breakfast [Lizzie's Heritage Inn] just to run into her to make that chance encounter," his ex-wife told The Sun.
Amos' ex warned that he's controlling and might be using Meri
One of Amos Andrews' ex-wives told The Sun that he may not have the best of intentions when it comes to dating Meri Brown, stating that he was an opportunistic person and that he might have been dating her "for a payday" as he had "many jobs" during their marriage, and she isn't aware of what he may be doing now. She also felt that Meri Brown could be a prime target because of her past with Kody Brown.
"I think he just looks at the opportunity," she said. "I think he's really opportunistic in looking into someone that's been in a relationship that maybe didn't get the attention. And he comes in and provides all that attention and seems like this knight on a white horse." She also accused him of being a "narcissistic and controlling" person who gets "extremely jealous."
"He accused me numerous times of cheating on him, and I was just over the controlling," Andrews' ex-wife told The Sun, expressing that she was surprised he dated someone as high profile as Meri Brown because he usually wanted to be low-key.
Meri has defended her relationship on social media
After all the negative reports about Amos Andrews began to surface, Meri Brown wasted no time jumping to his defense. Taking to Instagram Live for a "Fridays with Friends" segment, the reality star introduced Andrews in person to her followers, and as she talked with him and her best friend, she also quickly defended her new boyfriend from all the stories about him, noting that she also was not perfect.
Brown made a point of letting her fans know that while Andrews may have had some history that wasn't great, it didn't change who he was now, which mattered greatly to her.
As she defended him, she pointed out her own history of bankruptcy. "You just build your way out of it. It doesn't matter what happened to you in your past; who you are now is what matters and how you act on it." When the topic of ex-wives came up, Andrews said he only had three. Brown then cheekily replied that she "beat" him because she had one ex-husband and three ex-sister wives.
Meri's best friend approves of the relationship
Meri Brown's best friend, Jenn Sullivan, who helps her run Lizzie's Heritage Inn, seems to be fully on board with her new relationship with Amos Andrews. She first expressed excitement over Brown's initial announcement that she was dating someone, writing in the comments that she was looking for the post.
Sullivan also expressed her support during an Instagram Live, where she warned Andrews that his entire life was going to be heavily scrutinized now because of his relationship with Brown.
"Amos, first, I would like to officially welcome you to the land of no privacy where anything that is said, thought, assumed, or insinuated about you can and will be held against you in the court of public opinion and may be highlighted on social media and in poorly written articles full of half-truths, lies, and straight up bulls**t. Hope you're ready!" Sullivan exclaimed.
Most of Meri's relatives have not spoken out about the relationship
Despite Meri Brown's new relationship being a newsworthy moment that grabbed headlines, only one member of the Brown family has addressed the subject publicly. Christine Brown revealed in an interview with People that, like fans, she saw the news on social media and expressed happiness for Meri despite no longer having a relationship with her. "I'm just happy for her. So happy for her. That is absolutely awesome. I'm just thrilled for her to be able to be in a romantic relationship."
Despite being active on social media, Janelle Brown has not spoken publicly about Meri's new relationship, while Robyn Brown has been inactive on social media in general. Kody Brown has also not said anything publicly, despite being vocal about Christine's new marriage to David Woolley on the show. During the one-on-one interviews with TLC for Season 18, Kody Brown even went as far as to say that Christine would "probably, and I hope, be a very good wife for David."
Meri's only child, Leon Brown, who came out as transgender in 2022 and secretly married Audrey Kriss that same year, has also not spoken out about their mom's new relationship. However, Leon has often remained quiet about much of the family dynamics on social media.
Meri may need to balance both Amos and Kody
Meri Brown shares a child with Kody Brown, meaning they will always be part of one another's lives in some way, and that could mean she'll have to balance a delicate juggling act between her ex-husband and her new man.
In addition to the fact that they share Leon Brown, Kody has often expressed an interest in retaining a friendship with Meri and his other former wives. "It's a journey that goes inward and it's a journey that's outward. You have to express forgiveness to the people you've been involved with," Kody told People. "You have to express understanding and hope that at the end of an era for us as a family, we still have hope of a friendship and a loving or kind relationship with each other in the future because we're bound forever through our kids." As a result, Meri could wind up in a tricky spot if the two men are ever forced to come face-to-face and things aren't cordial.