Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram
Meri Brown
Meri was legally married to Kody from 1990 to 2014, and is still spiritually married to him. However, she admitted in the trailer for season 16 of Sister Wives, which premiered in November 2021, that she has “considered everything” — including leaving Kody — as their rocky relationship continues. The revelation came after she vowed that she wasn’t “going anywhere” in December 2020.
“I love this man. 💙 I don’t owe anyone an explanation but I’ll do it anyway. I’m well aware that we, as a family, have chosen to put ourselves ‘out there’, which, in turn, brings about all kinds of speculation, commentary, and opinions. But it comes down to this. My relationship with him is MY relationship with him. Sure we’ve had ups and downs through the years (I mean, isn’t that somewhat normal?) High highs and low lows,” she wrote at the time. “But here’s my truth. I love him. I love my family. I’m committed. I have 30 years in this. We struggle. We communicate. We repair relationships as the parties involved are willing and able. I’m an independent person who does her own thing. … I’m here. I’m committed. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t get your hopes up on that.”
After news of Kody and Christine’s split broke in November 2021, an insider claimed to Us that he and Meri have had “zero relationship” in recent years. “It’s all fake,” the source alleged. “They’re together for TV, essentially.”
Meri and Kody’s ups and downs continued to be a story line during season 17 of the series, which premiered in September 2022. During an October 2022 episode, Meri revealed that Kody had suggested she move to Utah to run her bed and breakfast following her mom’s death.
The idea of living away from him and their family surprised the mother of one. “I was here are the very beginning. I helped start this family. It was me and him and we had plans. He loved me,” Meri said during a confessional while holding back tears. “For him to just be like, ‘Um, just go up there now.’ It didn’t make sense.”
Kody, meanwhile, told the cameras, “The reason I’m suggesting this to Meri is, honestly, as a family [it] doesn’t feel like we interact that much. I’m not even trying to push her away.”
During the season 17 finale, which aired in December 2022, Kody confessed he still didn’t want to fix his relationship with Meri. “It’s interesting hearing him talking about this and the parallels that [are] happening with him and Christine and me and him,” Meri explained during a confessional. “It’s kind of disturbing because some of the things he’s frustrated about with Christine, he did with me. Oh, he wants to work on it with Christine, but not me.”
Kody, for his part, noted: “Ironically, Meri’s trying to support me and I don’t want to be in a relationship with her anymore.”
During part one of the season 17 Sister Wives: One-on-One special, Meri confirmed that she and Kody were no longer together, saying, “he just made the decision” without asking for her input. She noted that while she felt like her former spouse was “trying” when they first moved to Arizona in 2018, their relationship soon unraveled.
In January 2023, Kody and Meri released a joint statement saying they decided to “permanently terminate” their marriage.
