When Meri Brown, one of the better-known stars of Sister Wives , decided that she was going to open up a bed and breakfast in the state of Utah, she knew she was taking huge chances.
Aside from the standard concerns that every first-time business owner has about her new business, a new report suggests that she was concerned about her family being considered “felons” by the state.
This shocking report comes courtesy of the Salt Lake Tribune , which suggests that Meri and the other stars of Sister Wives have been living in Las Vegas for the past seven years to avoid being prosecuted for polygamy.
Despite the notion that Utah — which has a large Mormon population — has made polygamy legal, the reality is, it’s just as illegal to be married to more than one person at the same time in Utah as it is to be married to more than one person at the same time in any other state.
But not even she could resist the opportunity to reclaim a familial piece of property and turn it into a B&B (bed-and-breakfast), despite what may have come to her.
“I think of myself as someone who lived in Utah and loved the Utah mountains and has been exiled from Utah and don’t want to go back and be considered a felon,” she told the outlet.
The property, located at the corner of 100 East and 100 North in Parowan, Utah, was built by her great-grandparents back in the 1870s, but in the 1980s, the property was sold out of the family. When it came up for sale recently, Meri felt she had “no other choice” but to buy it back.
And fans of Sister Wives will be pleased to know that, according to In Touch Weekly , the new season of the show — which will air beginning this Sunday — will focus on Meri trying to convince her family that she should, in fact, open up this B&B . Kody, of course, is resistant to the idea — he feels that the B&B business isn’t very lucrative — and the other wives are just as hesitant, but Christine was immediately supportive of Meri from the get-go.
The new season of Sister Wives begins on Sunday, January 14 on TLC. Check your local listings for the time and channel.