TLC Debuts Polygamist Special: 'My Five Wives' Featuring Former Mormon Family
TLC is preparing to air a one-hour special about a polygamist family; the special is called "My Five Wives" and centers on one family's story. It's not the first polygamist show that the channel has aired but promises to be different than the popular series "Sister Wives."
"My Five Wives" centers on the Williams family, which is made up of one man, Brady, his five wives, and 24 children. The family left the Mormon Church in order to be able to practice their more "progressive" beliefs.
In 1997, Brady was profiled in an article in the New York Times, where he explained that he took a different approach to polygamy than fundamentalist Mormons. Brady built a home for each of his wives, even though they are all connected via a laundry room and family room. Even though he has a schedule with his wives, the entire family makes certain to eat together on Sunday.
"I believe the girls should have their own identity and place and not be mindless zombies," Brady told the Times. "But want to work together at times, like when they're canning fruit. I have really good wives. It works out."
The family currently lives outside Salt Lake City, Utah, where polygamy is in fact illegal. The stars of "Sister Wives" famously filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that the law is unconstitutional. They left Utah for Las Vegas because they feared Utah officials would separate them and arrest patriarch Kody Brown.
The new TLC special is scheduled to air Sept. 15, and could lead to a regular series depending on its popularity.
