I Don’t ‘Consider’ Us Married

A tangled web. Kody Brown got real about his “unraveling” relationship with Meri Brown on the latest Sister Wives episode — comparing it to the “sudden” split from Christine Brown.

“I want to work on the relationship, but Kody has basically said that he doesn’t. Does that mean we’re just not married anymore?” Meri, 51, asked during the Sunday, November 6, episode of the TLC series while reflecting on Christine’s choice to leave the family. “That’s not how I consider it.”

Kody, meanwhile, confessed to the cameras, “I don’t really consider myself married to Meri.”

Meri and Kody tied the knot in 1990. The Wyoming native went on to spiritually marry Janelle Brown in 1993 and Christine, 50, the following year. Robyn Brown joined the family in 2010 and four years later, Meri and Kody’s romance faced a major shakeup.

Kody legally divorced his first wife in 2014 to marry Robyn, 43, and adopt her three children from a prior union. Meri and Kody’s relationship has since faced many more ups and downs — and following her mom’s death in 2021, Meri appeared to be spending more time away from her spouse while running her Utah bed and breakfast.

“If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn’t get an argument with me,” Kody revealed during Sunday’s episode when speaking about Meri.

He later told the cameras: “Meri’s relationship with the family is a strained one. There’s a whole history of struggle. From the very beginning.”

The father of 18 further explained, “The difference between me and Christine and me and Meri is that Meri and I have been unraveling our relationship for years. Christine found out that she would never be happy married to me, but her leaving was so sudden that I — it wasn’t unraveled for me. It was like I was being kicked to the curb.”

Christine, who announced her split from Kody in November 2021, hinted during the latest TLC episode that her exit from their plural family was partially because of how her ex catered more to his fourth wife.

“By leaving Kody and leaving the family and moving I’m really changing the dynamic,” she said during a confessional. “When I tell you that keeps me up at night, believe me that keeps me up at night.”

Ultimately, Christine revealed that she had a “clear conscience knowing I gave it my best.” She added: “Being a mom is my most important thing. But I couldn’t with a clear conscience stay married to someone who had favorites and made it very known. And someone who was breaking my kids’ hearts. I needed to stand with them instead. And I wanted to do it for them.”

Kody challenged Christine’s — and the other wives’ — claims that Robyn has the best relationship with him.

“It’s much for nuanced than just to say, Kody favors Robyn. That’s not even a cool statement,” he admitted. “It’s that she communicates and her children communicate. They involve me.”

Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

Scroll down to see the biggest highlights from Sister Wives season 17, episode 9: