Who Is Sister Wives’ Robyn Brown’s Ex-Husband David Jessop? Inside Her First Marriage

Who is Sister Wives star Robyn Brown’s ex-husband David Jessop? While the TLC personality is known for her once-plural marriage to husband Kody Brown — Christine Brown left the family patriarch in November 2021, Janelle Brown split from Kody in December 2022 and Meri Brown confirmed her separation in January 2023 — Robyn was previously married to Jessop from 1999 to 2007. Though she has rarely spoken about her past marriage, fans are still curious to learn about her life before she met Kody. 

When Was Robyn Brown Married to David Jessop?

The reality TV star wed her first husband in June 1999. According to divorce documents exclusively obtained by In Touch, Jessop was the petitioner in the April 2007 divorce. The couple's legal separation was finalized in 2009.

Although she rarely ever talks about her past relationship with him, Robyn opened up about her experience during an April 2021 episode of Sister Wives. 

"I was married before, and in that marriage, there was a lot of fighting and there was a lot of pain," Robyn revealed. "I promised myself as I came out of my divorce, I was like, 'If I ever marry again, I'm just going to be more cautious and more careful.'"

During the same episode, Robyn and the other sister wives reflected on their communication skills as a plural family, to which Robyn mentioned she rarely ever argues with Kody. 

"Let's just say that it's rare that I fight with him,” she said during a confessional at the time. “I probably could name five real fights in the last 10, 11 years we've been together. Probably five real fights. Maybe not even that."

Who Are Robyn Brown and David Jessop’s Kids?

The former spouses shared children Dayton, Aurora and Breanna. Jessop was ordered to pay Robyn $159 per month in child support for all three children, and he eventually stopped seeing his kids regularly. As Robyn and Kody's relationship got more serious with time, Jessop contacted the Sister Wives star in the pursuit of stepparent adoption. While this option would've allowed him to get out of paying child support, Jessop dropped his efforts when he learned that his visitation rights would be taken off the table.

Kody legally adopted the three kids in 2014 after legally marrying Robyn. When he did so, Jessop had not fulfilled child support payments for 30 months. Amid a custody conversation, Jessop accused Robyn of forcing their children into uncomfortable territory with Kody and tried to stop his kids from expressing their own desire to be adopted. Ultimately, Kody was successful in his efforts. 

In a November 2023 interview on the “Mormonism Live” podcast, Kody opened up about Robyn’s relationship with her ex. After a caller accused her of “keeping” her kids from their biological father, Kody defended his wife. “Robyn never did that,” he insisted. “He had access to them all the time.” The businessman explained that Robyn’s kids “have chosen” not to have a relationship with Jessop.

"This is about somebody else and somebody else’s life,” he added. “I’m not interested in answering that question.”

In order to tie the knot with Robyn, Kody legally divorced his first wife, Meri, and remained spiritually married to her until their split after more than 30 years of marriage.

Robyn and Kody welcomed two children of their own: Solomon, who was born in 2011 and Ariella, who was born in 2016. 

Why Did Robyn Brown and David Jessop Divorce?

Detailed in the documents exclusively obtained by In Touch, Robyn and Jessop's reason for divorce was that their marriage was irretrievably broken and they were experiencing marital discord. While she tends to keep the details private, Robyn once opened up about Jessop via Twitter in November 2011 in response to a Sister Wives episode that had premiered at the time. In the episode, Robyn had to address bullying within the household against her three children.

"Just to clarify, I do not tolerate my kids getting bullied,” Robyn tweeted at the time, before claiming, “I ended my first marriage because of abuse. My kids come first ALWAYS."

What Happened to Robyn Brown’s 1st Husband?

On January 12, 2018, Jessop was allegedly arrested for “partner or family member assault causing bodily injury,” per Radar Online. He was released from jail four days later, according to the outlet.

Radar reported that Jessop ultimately pled not guilty, and the charge was amended to disorderly conduct on August 31, 2018. Jessop was ordered to pay fines, the site noted.

Additional details included in the documents exclusively obtained by In Touch show that Jessop and Robyn were not on great terms following their divorce. The parenting plan revealed that Jessop had Robyn listed as "reality bitch" in his cell phone, and his family has rarely had a kind word for the Sister Wives star.

In February 2023, it was revealed that Jessop was battling cancer. His Chronic Myeloid Leukemia diagnosis was confirmed via a GoFundMe page, which was started by his sister. In July 2023, she revealed that Jessop had “lost a significant amount of weight.” She also shared that he was in “a lot” of pain and at high risk for having a stroke due to high white blood cell levels.

How Does Robyn Feel About Kody’s Splits?

Following Kody and third wife Christine's split in November 2021, the mom of five revisited her outlook on love and how it changed after her own divorce from David. 

“I was a single mom, I had three kids,” she said during an October 2022 episode. “My divorce had really shook me, I kinda said to myself, I don’t really care so much about the romantic part of a relationship, I cared about whether or not he was a good husband, a good man. I cared about what I was going to give to my children.”

Robyn later admitted that she may have not known the full story behind the Browns before deciding to join the plural family.

“When I got divorced, it was a tough situation and my most important thing was my kids,” Robyn explained during the August 20, 2023, episode. “And feeling like there was a safe family to be a part of. And when I met Kody’s family, I saw them operating as one family. I saw all these different things going on in the family that seemed very functional. Like, I thought this was a safe place for my kids to be.” 

In a private confessional, Kody added that in the first 20 years of their family, they were “pretty dysfunctional” and were trying to ultimately “believe” they were functional. 

“You know, once Robyn entered the family, there was a shake-up. And I don’t know if things were ever settled again,” Janelle explained in another scene. Meanwhile, in a separate interview, Christine added, “The family traditions stopped. And I don’t know, I’m not accusing Robyn of stopping all the family traditions, I don’t know what happened.”