[Maddie Brown: Seeking a One-Woman Man]

2 hours ago, ginger90 said:

TikTok video:

 

 

 

"I'm done with my Christmas shopping. ... My exchange gift — you know the one."

LMAO, Maddie.

[Spoiler, Speculation and Social Media]

 

#GraphicDesignIsMyPassion

[Christine Brown Woolley: Nacho Sister Wife Anymore]

On 12/15/2023 at 10:07 AM, laurakaye said:

And wasn't Maddie living in LV at the time, too, and he could've just stayed with his sister?

Gabe flatout asked Madison if he could stay with her and Caleb, and she said no. I don't blame her. She had a baby. She wasn't eager to take on her teenage brother, but I always felt bad for him later, when she and Caleb took in Ysabel, and then later, Savanah. 

16 hours ago, Teri313 said:

Correct me if I'm remembering this wrong, but didn't his best friend's parents say he could live with them to finish out his last two years? I'm not sure if I'm confusing that with another show.

I just remember Kody saying something like, "this is when I need him to act like a man and he's acting like a boy." Well, letting him work out staying behind to finish school in LV seemed like something a man would do, but Kody dragged him to AZ like he was a boy. And for Kody to say that about him on the show, once again embarrassing and disparaging one of his kids in front of the world, I just want to throttle the guy.

 

Gabe might have had the possibility of staying with a friend. I can't recall.

It seems to me that when the family fled Lehi, Leon floated the idea of living with someone from their church, and Kody said no. Leon was around the same age when they left Lehi as Gabe was when they left Vegas.

[Spoiler, Speculation and Social Media]

40 minutes ago, ladle said:

That said, I have a crucial question: when did Robyn start adopting the aesthetic of a cartoon villain? 

 

It seems like destiny. Like she was a villain altogether from day one. 😉

[Spoiler, Speculation and Social Media]

On 12/14/2023 at 12:09 PM, Kellyee said:

https://www.etonline.com/sister-wives-sneak-peek-robyn-brown-says-being-happy-with-kody-feels-disrespectful-exclusive-216512

If my eyes roll any harder, they are going to end up in the back of my head.

Robyn REALLY wants to be center of attention. She actually expects the 3 ex-wives of her current husband and their children to comfort HER. 

And there were still no tears, but I noticed her nose turned really red.

 

I cannot get over how often and how intensely Robyn has made the end of the other women's "marriages" about her. It's stunning.

In their type of polygynous marital framework, there is a spiritual marriage of sorts between all of the partners. I do understand Robyn would have feelings, even strong ones, about the end of the plural marriages, but it would serve her and her children well for her to acknowledge that she still isn't central to the drama of each individual relationship.

Kody has repeated the lie so often, about his other wives "blaming" Robyn, that Robyn has come to believe it. 

Meri, Janelle, and Christine have always made it a point to specify that it was Kody's unequal treatment of them, and Kody playing favorites, that was the/a major factor in the breakdown of their unions. They've never said Robyn caused it, at least not on the show — as far as I can remember.

Now, in the heat of a private argument with Kody, have any of the OG3 ever sounded off about Robyn (and the other wives)? I'd bet money on it. However, in the cold light of day, they've all made it clear that it was Kody they couldn't live with.

And since there were more years of Meri and Janelle not being able to stand each other, than there were years of them trying to work it out, I believe they could have lived with Robyn being the favorite, if Kody had made a half-assed effort at fairness.

It's funny (okay, or ENRAGING) how polygamy is supposed to rub the rough edges off of the women's characters, but when Kody is faced with the "dissolution of [his] soul," he eager to skip the grinning and bearing it. He's eager to abandon the notion of leading his family through it, and coming out the other side a better man. 

I understand Robyn is the love of his life, and his "soulmate" or whatever. Fine. Enjoy each other. But in repeating the lie that the women blame Robyn (instead of Kody, whom they actually blame), he's not only harming his first three wives and their children. He's harming the wife of his heart, too. 

Kody has to know Robyn well enough by now to understand that she is comfortable in the role of victim. Feeding that impulse to let her pose as victim — spinning every situation so that she can act the victim, whether or not she is, is not good for her, and it is not good for their marriage. 

I can't help but think this is Kody's big, hollow victory. He helping his favorite wife transform into someone who will ultimately portray herself as Kody's victim. Kody hates to be blamed even more than he hates poverty.

 

On 12/14/2023 at 6:09 PM, Kellyee said:

It annoys me when the media says that Kody's 3 wives left him. Meri didn't leave Kody. Kody shoved Meri out of the family. That's a very important detail that makes Kody look a lot less sympathetic. 

 

Right?! He basically shoved out Christine and Janelle, too. Those two were just smart enough (okay, Christine was smart enough, I'm not yet convinced Janelle won't end up back with Kody, someday) to realize they were being shoved — to see their "marriages" for the shams they were and/or had become.

The kicker is, Kody's mindset (probably because of both the cult and his pathological refusal to shoulder any blame) is such that he thinks the women leaving him makes him MORE sympathetic.

Kody was content to keep pretending Meri was his "wife," until she forced the issue, and he said (about her, and previously about Christine, I seem to recall) that he "didn't want that judgment" on him for ending the marriages.

[S18.E17: One on One: Part 3]

 

1 hour ago, Nancybeth said:

There's something I'm confused about regarding the gift exchange text thread...did Robin suggest everyone jumping on a Zoom call to draw names? Or was she proposing they schedule a Zoom call to open gifts? It sounds to me, based on Janelle and Christine's re-telling, that she was asking for an immediate call, hence the mentions of "9 p.m. Eastern time" and everyone being busy. 

Robin suggesting having a Zoom call to draw the names.

The whole fight that widened the rift in the family spun off of that.

The kids thought it would be too difficult to schedule a Zoom just for that, because of people's varied schedules, and because of the fact that they live in different time zones.

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

7 hours ago, suomi said:

Meri Brown: Peace out, bitches!

(A direct quote).

Wasn't the whole quote, "Peace out, sayonara bitches"?

[S18.E17: One on One: Part 3]

 

4 hours ago, Absolom said:

I vaguely remember the original episode and I think it may have been Enneagrams.  Robyn would have been a 4.

 

Wow, I'm surprised to see "dramatic" in there. I bet you're right.

[S18.E17: One on One: Part 3]

2 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

"Dramatic? Dramatic!!?  I'm not draMAHtic! **sob**"  Wipes eyes while dry-crying.

No, she's not dramatic at all.

 

I just showed Robyn's, "And this isn't me being dramatic! Thank you, Christine," outburst to my daughter (who used to watch with me when she was a teen). Last night, I noticed it, but I didn't really take it in. Today, it struck me so funny, I had to rewind the scene like 5 more times. I can't stop laughing at her.

I shouldn't have wasted my time finding the episode with the personality test-related scenes. Robyn's "This isn't me being dramatic! Thank you Christine," is all the proof I personally need that Robyn is lying about the whole thing.

Think about it. If you really didn't remember personality test, or think you didn't take it, Suki telling you that Christine remembered that your results said you were "dramatic" probably wouldn't land that fast. You'd still be in, "I don't know what the heck Christine is talking about mode."

When you get as pissy as Robyn was, when she said, "And this isn't me being dramatic! Thank you, Christine," it's usually because something is a long-lasting sore spot.

I will say, I doubt the original test results said that Robyn was "dramatic." Personality tests don't usually use words that are so loaded. They'd find some other way to say it — demonstrative, expressive, emotional — something like that.

My guess is Christine characterized it as "dramatic" back in the day, in order to throw some shade, and you know what? Good on her.

[S18.E17: One on One: Part 3]

3 minutes ago, Julyolo said:

I also think Kody and Robyn mistakenly put all their hopes in Meri being able (as it was for many years) to continue to be the big negotiator with production and TLC.

 

What does this refer to? I don't think I have ever heard anything like this, but I also don't really understand what you mean.

 

Quote

Three out of his four wives are done with you both, and most SMS posters resoundingly find you both repulsive.

 

What are SMS posters?

[S18.E17: One on One: Part 3]

3 hours ago, nosedive said:

 In the S6 E10 show the family therapist administers a personality test in Sedona (yes, I did just waste 40 minutes watching this, and yes, that is pathetic, and yes, I would appreciate your prayers).  I don't know if this is the personality test to which Christine referred, but if so, Robyn definitely was present so presumably she took it herself - Christine did not take it on her behalf.  No doubt that would be a no-go with the therapist. The only results discussed during the show were Meri's, who scored an 8.  There was a brief description, with which Meri agreed, and said that these personality traits make it difficult for her to meld easily with the family dynamic. A few other tidbits from the show:  Robyn uses the word "safe," so apparently that word has been a trusty chestnut of the family since at least 2013, Kody expresses his lack of interest in or motivation to be empathetic and responsive to the varying needs and traits of his wives, Janelle indicates that she's committed to being in the family, but has no desire to invest anything more in the relationships than she already has, and (this was during the time they're trying to write a family mission statement) Janelle finds this endeavor to be eyeroll-worthy and describes it as "drama," and Christine comes across (to me, anyway) as sad and desperate to feel that she's an important member of the family and to Kody.  And on a superficial note, Christine and Janelle have grown more beautiful with age.  Enough said on that particular subject. 😉

I also watched S06.E10, "Polygamist Marriage Therapy," to figure out the personality test backstory. (Perhaps we should compile a list of "Take One for the Team" volunteers, after episodes that raise these issues. 😉)

There's another little tidbit that shores up Christine's version of events.

Okay, so Nancy had administered the test to the Browns the week prior to that marriage retreat in Sedona (when Pat handed off their case to Nancy).

Nancy presented the results on Day 1 of the retreat, and as @nosediveindicates, the clips shown mostly focus on Meri and Kody, with regard to Meri's test (and Janelle's disinterest in the sister wife dynamics).

BUT THEN...

On the morning of Day 2 (as indicated by a caption), Nancy, Pat, Meri, Janelle, Kody, and Christine all meet outside. Robyn is noticeably absent. When Nancy asks where Robyn is, Christine looks down at the ground for a second, the way a guilty child does, when they can't meet mommy's eyes.

When Kody starts explaining that Robyn doesn't feel well, Christine bites her lip, then looks up at him and kind of scrunches her face. She blah blahs some fake surprised response to the news that Robyn is supposedly under the weather.

Christine and Robyn definitely either had already had words over whatever Christine said about Robyn's personality test results — OR — Christine had already heard from Kody that Robyn was upset by whatever Christine said about Robyn's results.

 

[Christine Brown Woolley: Nacho Sister Wife Anymore]

2 hours ago, Teri313 said:

She has already legally changed her name to Woolley, and only uses Brown for the show. Anyone who knows/follows her knows that she is now married to David, so I don't think it would confuse anyone, especially since she will be getting married on the show. 

 

I know she is using Woolley for her personal life and Brown for her professional life.

Generally speaking, professional name changes can be detrimental for women in media (and other professions). Susan Sarandon; Demi Moore; Ivana Trump; Erica Jong; Joy Behar; Suzanne Somers; Raquel Welch; Tina Turner; Pat Benatar; Faith Hill; etc. kept using their ex-husbands' surnames as their professional names, for a reason. It's the same reason lots of actresses do not change their professional names upon marriage.

Every single one of the above women are/were more well known than Christine. Every single one of them were known to be divorced from the husbands whose names they took. They were all capable of getting enough media coverage around their name changes, but they kept those names for a reason, and the reason was that it's hard to build up name recognition well into your career.

 

Quote

As far as the kids go, they are all adults except for Truly (who will be soon enough), and most of them are married. I doubt it really matters to them.

 

I don't know that it would matter to Christine's kids. I said I would be reticent to change my name, because of my kids. Not because they would object, but because it's part of our family identification (for me).

 

Quote

And I don't know why she would want to use Allred. That just drags her back to the AUB and polygamy. She has moved on. JMO

 

I didn't say Christine would want to use Allred. I think the Allred Group is a pernicious cult, so I personally would have loved it, had she reverted to Allred, so that there was one more Allred woman of note known to have fled the cult.

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

8 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Or maybe Meri Brown: I won't be silenced anymore!

Nice. I like that. I'd also love to see something that acknowledges Meri is breaking free:

Meri Brown: Sayonara Bitches*

Meri Brown: I Am a Single Woman

Meri Brown: I Don't Have Sister Wives, Just FYI

 

*I know the editors did us dirty by the way they teased Meri's "Sayonara Bitches" clip, this season, but it's still a great quote.

 

Edited to Add:

You know the "rilly big dill" thing, where the Browns say their long "E" sounds like short "I" sounds?

We could invert that and flip the meaning of Meri's opening line in the old show intro: "I believe in living this lifestyle; it just makes each of us better," so that it more accurately reflects current events:

Meri Brown: I Believe in Leaving this Lifestyle; It Just Makes Each of Us Better

 

[Season 18 Live Chat]

I planned to join in tonight, but things came up in the house, so I missed it. See you all in the episode thread, after I read through this one. 

[Christine Brown Woolley: Nacho Sister Wife Anymore]

If I divorced and remarried in my 50s, I'd be reticent to change my last name from my first husband's name, because that is my children's name. If I became professionally known under that name, I think it would be even harder.

Part of me would like to see Christine revert to Allred (her maiden name), so there was one more Allred who left the AUB (which is often known as "the Allred Group").

[Robyn Brown: She wanted the family, but got stuck with the man.]

 

6 hours ago, Roslyn said:

If I am remembering correctly the $3,000 number is the amount for just the Victoria Secret store card with the $32,000 being the whole debt. But ya know...those long legs don't cover themselves.

 

When Robyn saw the credit fixer on the show (in order to qualify for a mortgage for the Vegas cul-de-sac house), her debt was supposedly $4,000, and $1,000 of that was Victoria's Secret.

That $32K figure has been floating around the fandom for years came from reports supposedly based on divorce documents. I don't know if it is a well-attested figure, or if it's just an often cited figure from one report (which might have come from a fannish online tabloid like Hollywood Life).

On the show, Robyn spoke as though she assumed all the marital debt (from her marriage to Jessop), just to get through the divorce with less contention.

I am not inclined to believe she was telling the truth. There are a lot of reasons to assume she lied, because we've been watching her in action on the show for 18 seasons, and she more often than not seems utterly full of shit.

I don't know where the whole $32K came from though (if, indeed, the reports were accurate). 

Does anyone know how the figure jumped from $4K to $32K?

@ginger90, you always have receipts on this sort of stuff. Do you know?

 

[Robyn Brown: She wanted the family, but got stuck with the man.]

Oh please no.

Nobody elected me queen of posting, but I would hate seeing it on the index, every time I loaded the forum. It's been played out for a long time.

[S18.E16: One on One: Part 2]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I have lost track of the diamonds that Janelle contributed from her Mother's ring.  I have read that there were 3 diamonds and Janelle gave one each to Kody, Meri and herself. 

Did those 3 stones end up in the ring that Kody had melted?

I don't think so, only because Meri gave Kody that ring when they married. Janelle didn't join the family (well, the Brown family, not the Barber family) until 3 years later.

[S18.E16: One on One: Part 2]

9 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

The detail about the ring being for Robyn's daughter(s) comes from the catfish. It was one of the many stories from Jackie that were considered hard to believe back then. Some were "hmm, plausible" and some seemed over the top and unbelievable. But ever since they spilled the ring beans story it instantly became a real story.

The Robyn's daughters part would have been considered an unbelievable add on except that Janelle in the interview added in a plain spoken nonchalant way that the melted ring was going to be for daughters...but not specific daughters obviously. Making it point more to either Aurora or Brianna or both may have come from this magickal ring.

 

Thank you!

That's been driving me crazy. I don't necessarily believe the catfish about that bit, but I don't necessarily believe Janelle, either.

I think Kody probably got money for the gold (and diamonds?), or just sold or pawned the ring, and the "melt it down for the kids" was bullshit he peddled to shut Meri up, because then he could berate her for not thinking of the family.

Not that Gwen would necessarily know the facts of all the rings, because she was so little (8 maybe?) when Robyn came on the scene, but in her livechat over the weekend, someone asked her about rings made from Kody's ring, and she said the parents just bought the girls claddagh rings when they turned 16; they didn't have them made.

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

4 hours ago, kimaken said:

So any stories regarding Meri's pain throughout the years (infertility, miscarriages, cancer health scare, the real divorce) are fair game for Christine and/or Janelle to share?  

 

4 hours ago, BnJJ said:

Yeah, because that's exactly what I said.

 

No, but where is the line? Would it be kosher to you if Meri had been the one to disclose in a talking head, in a lighthearted moment, that Christine didn't like to go back to the Lehi house, because her miscarried baby was buried in the yard? Christine had already disclosed that she had a miscarriage.

 

3 hours ago, Orcinus orca said:

Sure.  It's all been on TV or in the tabloids.  Not like any of it was a secret. 

You sign away your lives to be on teevee for big bucks, you take the lumps that come along with it.  You willingly sold your soul so live with the consequences.

 

I had no blessed clue that the catfish told the story about Meri's ring until this past weekend. I had no clue about the ring itself until this past weekend. I suspect most fans who aren't and haven't been involved in online fandom did not know about it.

From what I understand, the catfish wrote about it in that ridiculous book they put out. I'd never heard even one fan mention it. I think most people didn't want to give the catfish any money, and most of those who did read it got their hands on a free download.

The Browns didn't sign their lives away to be on TV. They agreed to let cameras into their home and to otherwise follow them at agreed upon times. They're still human beings. They don't owe us all their grief.

Now when they do tell us a thing, what they tell us should be true. That has not always been the case, and that is wrong of them (and of the producers, to the extent they're complicit).

But owing the audience the truth in any given story presented on the show doesn't mean the Browns owe us every detail about their lives. It doesn't mean full disclosure.

 

3 hours ago, ezzy4 said:

Now that they've told us that Meri's  participantion in the show was a scam...and Kody and Meri were only pretending to be in any sort of relationship...and Meri and Crybrows were pretending to have a bond...etc...

...now that we know she's lied to the audience from the very beginning...

Yeah, I not going to believe a word she writes.

 

How and when did they tell us that Meri's participation in the show was a scam?

We watched the Kody/Meri relationship deteriorate over the years (most acutely since the catfish, but also before). They weren't "only pretending" to be in a relationship. They were in an unhealthy relationship that died over the course of the show. Now they're just finally (belatedly) calling time of death.

For the last however many years, Kody may have been pretending that he still considered Meri a wife (although he dropped that pretense over the past few years), but he was pretending that to her, too.

How did Meri lie to the audience from the beginning?

The AUB doesn't have some secret ritual where you melt a ring and a marriage is unsealed.

[S18.E16: One on One: Part 2]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

I'm just sittin' here thinking about the ick factor involved in a man taking his first wife's wedding ring, melting it down, and creating new rings for his new step-daughters.  Yuck.

 

Where does that detail come from (that the rings were going to be for Robyn's oldest girls)? I've seen fans repeat it, but I've never seen any source material.

That's on me. The most I've seen is Janelle half mumble a "we were going to melt it down for some of the girls" type thing, and Christine looked at her like, "Oh, we didn't discuss this lie before the interview."

Does anyone have a link or a real quote?

 

1 hour ago, Roslyn said:

I think the catfish saved the whole damn show.

 

I think the legal Meri/Kody divorce, the catfish, and Christine leaving have each saved the show. I say this with tunnel vision. I've stopped watching a few times. News of these events eventually caught my notice, even though I wasn't following any sort of reality TV shows or content, and those news items made me pop back in.

I remember being really disappointed that Meri was only legally divorcing Kody back then, instead of "dumping his ass."

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

1 hour ago, BnJJ said:

I think that Meri over-reacted to the wedding ring story.  Sure, maybe it wasn't Christine's story to share but it shows that Kody has been a complete ass and has treated Meri terribly for many, many years.  Be mad at him, not Christine.

The melting of the ring happened 12-15 years ago or so. Meri has already had her time being hurt/humiliated/angered by that act of emotional abuse. The Browns may have even talked it over in therapy with Pat and/or Nancy. Meri has had a long time with it being a painful fact of her life.

I don't think Christine told the story to be mean to Meri, but I understand why, in the very moment, Meri reacted to the fact that Christine told the story rather than the facts of the story themselves.

Meri was primarily hurt and angered not by the old wound, but by the new wound -- that her one-time friend/sister wife exposed one of Meri's painful, humiliating experiences on national television.

Meri's used to the fact that Kody melted down her ring. It's not shocking to her any more. She already has scar tissue in that spot. Christine's betrayal, if you will, is fresh, so it is what shook her.

My guess is, all five of the Brown adults have some nasty stories they could tell that would humiliate the others. It felt like Christine broke some sort of code under which the parents used to operate.

It also felt though, like the producers used a typical reality TV show producer trick (i.e. making sure Meri found out what Christine said in the moment), in order to set off some fireworks. They don't usually operate that way, but I think it's likely they did here.

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

Importing from S18.E16 episode thread.

40 minutes ago, lgandkihei said:

Does anyone besides me remember the story arc some years back where Meri supposedly wanted another baby, and she and Kody were exploring all kinds of fertility etc. treatments?  Even at the time, it seemed so off to me, because Meri just seemed too old to be starting over with another baby, and Kody seemed to mainly be going through the motions just to make her happy.  But, I get that she's always felt inferior to the other wives because she hadn't produced as many precious offspring to make Kody look super virile and manly.  To sire that many kids, you must be a  real stud, right?  Just look at Jim-Bob Duggar!

...

I admit that I don't remember the exact timeline on the baby-hungry storyline (I'm sure one of the many experts on here will!), but if Kody was already way over Meri, lovewise, wouldn't it have been handy for him to mention that before contemplating bringing yet one more kid into the mix?

 

What's even crueler still is that Meri wasn't the one who initiated it. Kody pushed Meri into the exploration, then pulled the rug out from under her. It was the first time I really let myself realize that he got off, not just on having four wives, but on being subtly cruel to them and effing with their heads.

There'd been plenty of talk in the first season or so about Meri's secondary infertility, but Meri had already gotten to a place where she had accepted that a big bio family wasn't in the cards for her. She was sad, but okay about it, because Leon was going to be going away to uni soon, and Meri knew she'd be entering a new stage of life.

Then, when Robyn gave birth to Solomon, she offered to be Meri's surrogate. Meri didn't know what to make of it.

Kody started pressing Meri to make a decision. Robyn pressed Meri to accept her offer.

Meri and Kody went to see a fertility doc to look into their options (fertility treatments, IVF, etc.), before deciding whether to accept or decline Robyn's offer.

Meri is an annoyingly indecisive person (particularly, as far as I can tell, when Kody and the family are pressing her on something). Kody kept hounding Meri to make up her mind whether she wanted to pursue conception or surrogacy. He made it sound like he gave a toss whether Meri had a baby, but I think he just wanted to knock up Robyn again with a baby of their (R+K) own, so he wanted Meri's decision.

Meri asked him to wait until they got into their Vegas cul-de-sac houses. Finally, Meri decided to tell Kody she wanted to try to to have another baby with him, and Kody twisted the words as they came out of her mouth, and pretended right on our screens that she didn't want to do that. 

I still remember the look on her face, as she sat with him and tried to act like she agreed with him.

My pet Sister Wives conspiracy theory is that the whole conversation was also Kody's code for letting Meri know he was shutting her off sexually. 

[S18.E16: One on One: Part 2]

 

42 minutes ago, lgandkihei said:

Does anyone besides me remember the story arc some years back where Meri supposedly wanted another baby, and she and Kody were exploring all kinds of fertility etc. treatments?  Even at the time, it seemed so off to me, because Meri just seemed too old to be starting over with another baby, and Kody seemed to mainly be going through the motions just to make her happy.  But, I get that she's always felt inferior to the other wives because she hadn't produced as many precious offspring to make Kody look super virile and manly.  To sire that many kids, you must be a  real stud, right?  Just look at Jim-Bob Duggar!

...

I admit that I don't remember the exact timeline on the baby-hungry storyline (I'm sure one of the many experts on here will!), but if Kody was already way over Meri, lovewise, wouldn't it have been handy for him to mention that before contemplating bringing yet one more kid into the mix?

Oh... wait....I was thinking for a moment that he would be involved with the kid once it was born.  Silly me!

As for him supposedly never really loving any of his wives, pre-Robyn, maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but to throw it out there defiantly on national TV is just plain unnecessary and cruel.  He is such a small, petty man.

Taking my response to the Meri thread.

[Spoiler, Speculation and Social Media]

5 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

I remember the post. I probably posted it here. 🤣🤣 It’s being spoken about as if it’s been officially announced. That bugs me for some reason.

Yup. It bugs me too (which is why I was able to find her Instagram post). 

It's not an illogical conclusion, but it is so far from a foregone conclusion, but that's how I see it discussed in the wider fandom.