Former Seeking Sister Wife star April Briney is speaking out about her decision to leave her husband Drew Briney and his other wives and family!
April, who appeared on the first season of the TLC show with Drew and his other wives Auralee and Angela, wrote a lengthy Facebook post on Monday, the same day her (former) family blasted her in a blog post to their family website, calling her “mentally unstable” and blaming her for TLC booting them from the second season of “Seeking Sister Wife.’
In the caption of a photo taken on May 26, 2018— the same day April left the Briney family— she described her feelings about breaking away from the family.
“There they were my beautiful children lined up of their own accord, standing on the other side of a barbed wire fence. It felt strangely free…” April wrote.
She stated that a sheriff had been called (presumably by the family) and reported that April was a “possibly drunk, on drugs, suicidal mentally crazed mother who had ‘kidnapped’ her children against their will.” Although she didn’t go into specifics as to why she left her husband and his polygamous family, April did reveal how bad she felt about leaving.
“I was leaving behind everything I knew and stepping into the complete unknown,” April wrote. “I was leaving behind my husband of 20 years whom I had loved dearly and whom I felt I had given my all. I was leaving behind all of my earthly possessions, the clothes, the art, the collection of treasured homeschooling supplies and best-loved books, everything was gone save a single random bag stuffed with odds and ends and the clothes on my back.
“But more than that I was leaving behind the precious ones that had been a part of my life since they were born…”
April— who was Drew’s first wife and therefore his only legal spouse—says that even she was surprised that she left her husband and family.
“I never in a million ever years thought I would divorce,” she wrote. “I never would do that to my children I had said. I never would forsake my promises to God I had said. I would stand by my husband’s side eternally through thick or thin I had thought. I had followed him already for so long through so much: college, law school- all the lean years I had prayed for him, supported him, found odd jobs to make ends meet as our family and the pressure grew.”
She added that she had left her original religion behind and embraced Mormon Fundamentalism (which allows polygamy) along with Drew, despite the fact that it was an “unfamiliar lifestyle and peculiar culture” to her.
April then discusses the family’s time on ‘Seeking Sister Wife.’
“I had followed him onto the set of a television show that was the beginning of the outward unraveling of our family…” April wrote, adding that the problems within her marriage and family started long before their time on TLC.
“Inwardly it had been unraveling for years, I had just been too hopeful, too naive to see,” she wrote. “I had held onto hope, clenched it, demanded it…But it was not to be.”
During a Season 1 episode of ‘Seeking Sister Wife,’ April expressed how unhappy she was with how her sister wives were treating her.
“I have felt so much animosity from both of you,” she told Auralee and Angela. “You give me dirty looks, you’re unkind to me. I say something and you’re talking about me behind my back. I feel like you guys are my enemies, like you’re against me and you’re trying to hurt me.”
April did not reveal the specific reasons she left the family, or if she has legally divorced Drew yet. However, her personal Facebook profile still lists her relationship status as “married.”
View this post on Instagram
* The whole fam damily! (As seen on @tlc upcoming #SeekingSisterWife. Premiere’s Jan 14 10/9c.
After someone criticized April for taking the kids away from their father, she clarified in an Instagram comment that her kids still see Drew and the family.
“My children spent 3 weeks including Christmas and New Years with their dad in Oregon. He has visitation with them by law,” April wrote. “And they’ve called him twice a week regularly or chatted by text or email. He also has one weekend a month with them if he ever chose to use it. And if you knew me at all you would know that I don’t throw tantrums and I certainly wasn’t angry when I left. Just very sad. Divorce is a tragic thing for all parties involved. There are no bad guys or good guys. We are all learning and doing the best we can. And as a mother my first priority is the safety and happiness of my children… That is a big reason why I stayed in that marriage and hoping and invested for 20 years and it is also a big reason why I knew I had to leave when and how I did.”
Watch the clip from Season 1 below in which April expresses how unhappy she is in the family.
RELATED STORY: The Briney Family Says TLC Booted Them From ‘Seeking Sister Wife’ Season 2 Due to April Briney Leaving the Family
(Photos: TLC, Instagram)
18 Responses
He clearly can’t commit. She was seen as the mean one. But the reaction to the leaving just proves why she had to get distance and file through the law.
im glad if this true that she left. Her sister wives had enough of her manipulation, and running and whining to Drew and being dishonest about her manipulations that started the conflicts. All her other sister wives were trying to get her see areas of improvement she could make and tried to conflict resolute. and she was not having it, she twisted everything to suit herself, and made it all about her. She was a whiney spoiled brat. that if it wasn’t all about her, and she was unhappy shed make every one else’s life miserable, and go running to Drew with lies. I hope Derew watches the episodes and takes a good look at how his wife really acted, and realize him and his other two amazing wives is all he needs, and he’s better of without ber. and the family dynamics is going to be way better. Im sorry that TLC booted Drew, and the other two ladies off the tv. because The world needs to see how a real healthy poligimist family lives without all the drama from first wife, to shed a positive light on polygamy.
Let’s get real here. The only reason Auralee and Angela are upset April is gone is because of the lost TLC money. They don’t care about April, it was plain as day in the show. April is right they did talk behind her back, they talked badly of her behind her back and they undermined Drew’s relationship with her. It’s quite sad how they were allowed to bully her. Catty childish women.
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Drew always has a bad back but he can have 3 women…OK. Best wishes to April…you dodged a bullet.
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She is smart to leave
She was the obvious scapegoat for the family
?❤️ Praying for her and her family
Ewww, look how he’s manspreading in that shot of them. Like his ugly ass needs to prove how manly he is, even w three women married (“married”) to him.
I love how the rest of the Briney’s automatically assumed she was drunk or high just because she stopped drinking the Kool-Aid.
I applaud her for finding the strength within herself to take action and remove herself from a toxic situation.
Those women were mean. I feel like the first wife is always the one to get screwed in these polygamous marriages. Good for her for leaving.
So I dont watch this show but April is a little treasure and I feel so badly for her being bullied by these two bitches. Especially the second one with reddish hair. Also why does the blonde have zero accent until she says the word “her”? Its weird.
She came across as the mean Bish on TLC.
She is smart to leave! They treated her horribly then thought she was a bad guy to leave! I am totally hoping the best for April! She is an amazing person! I know her well! She got dicieved by the devil ,who her husband follows. He told His “wives “ and kids that he was God and they had to obey him. On camera he made a completely different show, pretending to be nice.
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I’m sorry but she was clearly the craziest one there. She was on a major power trip and was annoyingly passive aggressive ALL the time. I imagine the other two wives are secretly happy about this.
If you saw the first season…this really should come as no surprise…it was clear she was at the end of her rope dealing with this situation.
I would like you to say one nice thing to me every day.
Humpf, you can not demand or ask anything, this is manipulation!
Really, saying one nice thing to your sister wive is too much to ask for her sake and the sake of your family?
How can anyone criticize her for taking HER children away from a man who had a midlife meltdown and all the sudden decided to embrace the fundamentalist sect of the Mormon Church!?
A “church” and way of life that has contributed to horrific abuse of women and children.
This woman was deeply unhappy and her so called husband did nothing but make it worse and sure didn’t stop or say much about his side pieces from treating her like crap.
Drew Briney is a wimpy-ass sorry excuse for a “husband.”
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She was a b$tch to the other two wives. Though in the end they’re all nuts.