and his large family have been a reality TV staple for nearly 15 years, though – daughter of Kody and ex-wife – revealed in a new interview that for most of that time, she and her 17 siblings were not compensated for their participation in the TLC series. 

In a Teen Vogue feature published this week, Gwen opened up about her experience growing up on reality TV, telling the outlet she used to be “super into” filming , largely because the opportunity provided a substantial– and much needed– financial boost for her family. 

“We just got thrown into fame and thrown into money,” she said.. “And I stopped wanting and needing things. Life is a lot easier for a kid that’s not going hungry. It was quite a blessing initially.” 

Prior to her family appearing on reality TV, Gwendlyn said the Browns were facing “a poverty situation,” and while her family went on to benefit from the earnings made from their show, the family’s children weren’t compensated by the network. 

“The network only paid the parents,” she claimed. “I’m not sure if they did or didn’t expect the parents to pay us kids, but we weren’t paid.” 

Gwendlyn explained that eventually, her mom, Christine, decided to pay her children herself, giving them “a certain amount per day or half-day of camera time” from the family’s profits from the show. 

While Gwendlyn said she doesn’t know how much money she and her siblings ultimately received, she claims, “it certainly hasn’t been a fair share.” 

(A spokesperson for TLC told Teen Vogue that, “compensation is handled in accordance with contractual commitments and applicable labor laws and regulations.” Meanwhile, Christine confirmed that her children were not compensated when ‘Sister Wives’ first began, but claimed that money was set aside for the kids’ college funds and vehicles.) 

Gwendlyn added that, now that she’s an adult and able to see how odd life on TV is, she is not as keen on filming for ‘Sister Wives,’ despite the financial gain.

“I’m growing a bigger dislike for it. And [in the past] it was like, ‘this is my normal,’” she said. “But now it’s like, ‘this does not have to be my normal,’ and it’s weird.”

While Gwendlyn didn’t reveal if (or how much) her 11 other siblings were paid for their participation on ‘Sister Wives,’ her claims regarding the Brown’s poor financial state pre-reality TV are similar to those made last year by her sister , daughter of Kody and ex-wife . 

As previously told you, on a December episode of her (former) podcast, The Authentic Society, Maddie– one of Kody and Janelle’s six children– spoke about her family’s finances, recalling that her family was “very poor” before nabbing ‘Sister Wives’ in 2010. During the episode, Maddie– who is estranged from Kody– told listeners that, despite her dad earning “decent money” back in the day, the Browns still struggled financially, largely due to the number of people in the family, as well as Kody’s poor handling of family funds. 

Maddie also alleged on the podcast that Kody “always chose the get-rich quick scheme,” and claimed that when she was younger, her parents would “immediately” spend their tax returns instead of making an effort to save or invest the money. 

According to Gwendlyn, her dad continues to make poor financial decisions today– more than a decade later– with the 23 year-old alleging in 2023 that Kody and his only remaining wife, , “have a terrible habit” of “spending very crazy and not within their means at all.” 

Gwendlyn even went on to predict at the time that her dad’s three ex-wives– Christine, Janelle and – would “probably be a lot better off” now that they were no longer finically tied to Kody.   

New episodes of ‘Sister Wives’ air Sundays on TLC. 

(Photos: TLC)