A little over a year ago, TLC aired Brother Husbands, a special about a “polyamorous” family. It starred Amanda Liston, who was married to husband Chad Liston, as well as husband Jeremy Johnston. Overall, Amanda had five children: triplets by Jeremy and two sons by Chad. The trio lived under one roof, and raised their kids as one family unit.
The ‘Brother Husbands’ special aired in February 2017, and the family got notice shortly after that TLC was not planning to turn it into a full series.
So what’s happened to Amanda, Chad and Jeremy in the year or so since ‘Brother Husbands’ aired? In an exclusive interview with The Ashley, Chad gave updates on where his relationship with Amanda stands, and the shocking changes the family has experienced!
Chad, who first appeared on reality TV when he and Amanda got married on MTV’s Engaged & Underage in 2008, says that things are very different from how they were when the family filmed ‘Brother Husbands.’
“Amanda and I are divorced, and sadly Jeremy and I don’t have any type of relationship,” Chad told The Ashley. “Amanda and Jeremy are still together. They live together but are not legally married.”
The split came as a shock to Chad, who had been with Amanda solo for years before Jeremy came into the picture.
“I was totally surprised by this, but hindsight is 20/20,” he said. “[Since Amanda left] I have been able to process, understand and support the decision. It was crazy hard at first, but I’ve found out I’m stronger than I thought. I’m proud of where I’m at now.”
While he is sad that he and Amanda are no longer together, he is happy for his ex-wife.
“It’s not a good end result to be separated and it’s even worse when children are involved,” Chad said. “Neither Amanda nor I said our vows on our wedding day expecting this outcome. However, I’m not hurt that Amanda is still with Jeremy. I’m so glad she was able to find a person she felt she needed to be with.”
Chad also revealed that filming ‘Brother Husbands’ added to the already complex nature of his polyamorous relationship.
“None of us had a good experience with the show. It placed a lot of added strain on all of our relationships with each other,” he said. “Filming was forced. You have to be at a 10 even when you feel at a 1. It’s rough and nearly impossible to maintain reality while filming. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
TLC has begun airing more and more reality shows about polygamous and polyamorous couples, and Chad said that, while a poly relationship didn’t work for him, he still believes they can be successful.
“I think anything is possible, but I do believe everyone has to be on the same page,” he said. “I do also think equality in the relationship is key.
“Amanda and I got married so young and we were such different people then. Our relationship has evolved many times since then. I feel this result, sadly, may have been inevitable.”
Chad, who had previously lauded the perks of a polyamorous relationship, has sworn off being in any more trio situations.
“No more poly for me!” he said, adding that he is not against regular marriage. “I am dating. I have no idea what the future holds with marriage, but I learned a lot from my relationship with Amanda and I wouldn’t swear off marriage. I still believe in love!”
Today, Chad is in a great relationship with Los Angeles artist Austyn de Lugo. (Chad and his sons have even made it into some of Austyn’s art work. You can see some of it here!)
To find out what happened to some of the other ‘Engaged & Underage’ couples, click here!
(Photo: TLC)
20 Responses
I love you’ll keep up the show we all love watching it !
Both of the men are clearly bi-sexual, she is only a money maker so both men can stay home. Most likely they are only doing this for the money they would make off the show.
I just watched this either on Hulu or kodi app from the fire stick. I didn’t see the trio lasting sadly you could see the jealousy and putting her in the middle. But hey, I’d take two or three husbands and let one or two clean the house lol.
I never watched it, but remember reading about it. Was it like sister wives where she had romantic relationships with both guys, but the guys did not have a romantic relationship with each other or did the 3 of them all have a romantic relationship each other?
Ya it didn’t work because he’s gay.
**Comment before reading article**
I just watched this the other day and it was so awkward. It was a like a girl married her gay best friend and then he had a crush on some straight guy and he got his wife to add him to the relationship. It was such a mess and nobody seemed really happy.
I read it and I’m not surprised at all. We all saw this coming. Next is Chad coming out as gay…
@Magan: Chad identified as bisexual on the special. -The Ashley
I missed that, but it makes everything make sense. He had an obvious crush on Jeremy.
Who knew this healthy relationship wouldn’t last?! ?
What a unique way for a dude to swoop in and steal ur girl…
At the time, he seemed pretty desperate to make the show happen. I remember the interviews and him commenting on articles about himself. Seemed strange the other two didn’t put themselves out there like that. He even changed his IG name to chadbrotherhusband or something along those lines.
You knew she was going to “phase him out”. This was her way of getting permission to sleep with his best friend. ?♀️
You KNOW Kody would have done the same if he could-ditch the other wives and only be with Robyn. But then sadly (for him) no one would give a hoot about him or his family.
Wouldn’t it be great if Kody ever did leave to be just with Robyn and Janelle and Christine dropped all the kids off at the same time for a weekend at dad’s house? I would love to see Robyn, with a newborn on her hip, chasing after 11 kids/pre-teens – because you know Kody wouldn’t.
Thank you for this! I’ve been wondering about them!
I follow Chad on Instagram, and I have a feeling he has a significant other, but I do t make assumptions. Go check him out of you’re curious, he goes by “chadfursis”
I will say, he’s always with those boys, very hands on, present dad.
I was rooting for them. I believe poly relationships work so it’s sad when they don’t.
Unfortunately I never got to see this train wreck. I tried finding it online but I got a lot of unintended results?
It was hilarious to watch, sucks you missed out
I wish I could say I was surprised!