‘Sister Wives’ Tell-All: Kody’s Wives Weigh In on ‘Patriarchal’ Family Dream

Grasping at straws! Sister Wives’ Kody Brown opened up about his season 17 call for “patriarchy” following Christine Brown’s announcement that she was leaving the family.

When fans watched Christine, 50, tell her fellow sister wives, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown, that she and Kody, 53, had split, the patriarch wasn’t “as sure” the breakout was final.

The Wyoming native revealed during part 1 of season 17’s Sister Wives: One-on-One special, which aired on Sunday, December 18, that the discussion led him to over-correct with the rest of the group.

“Christine was moving on. She’s smiling … that’s because she’s looking forward toward a future,” Kody told host Sukanya Krishnan. “I’m at that moment going, ‘I screwed this up. I should have been more patriarchal.’ That was a dumb idea I realize.”

The polygamist, who publicly confirmed his split with Christine in November 2021, noted that his desire for “patriarchy” during the family discussion, was brought about by his lack of control.

“In the moment, I’m sitting there going, ‘She wouldn’t be leaving and we wouldn’t have had all these issues in COVID, if I would have just been the head of my family,’” Kody explained on Sunday’s episode. “And yes, they all made the commitment to run their will to mine.”

He insisted that “Christine asked to be in the family. Janelle asked to be in the family” after he married first wife Meri, 51, in April 1990.

“Basically, I said, ‘If you want to be in the family, I need to you understand that you have to run your will to mine,’” Kody recalled of Christine and Janelle’s addition to the family in 1993 and 1994, respectively. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, pick me!’ I’m like, ‘OK, they’re compliant we can make this family situation work.’ In the end, it wasn’t ever like that.”

Meri gave insight into the early days of the Brown family’s agreement, telling Krishnan, 51, “When I married Kody, I totally looked at him as the head of our family.”

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The California native, who shares child Leon, 27, with Kody, revealed that she “absolutely” still looks at him that way. “I also [think] I’m a strong independent woman and I can do whatever I want,” Meri said, adding she’s asked her partner on multiple occasions, “Are you going to support me in that as well?” (Elsewhere in the episode, Meri confirmed her split from Kody after he revealed during season 17 that she didn’t “consider” them married.)

Janelle, meanwhile, was vocal with her partner about his change of power both at the time of the family discussion in 2021 and on the tell-all.

“Now all of a sudden this is his tune. Like, ‘I’m going to be the head of my household [and] if you don’t agree with me then you’re not going to be around me,’” the 53-year-old reality star told viewers on Sunday, claiming, “He’s been making some noise, even last year. He’s like, ‘Look, plural marriage is standing in the way of my personal progress.’ He said that to us one time. Maybe he wants it to be simpler.”

Janelle — who shares children Logan, 28, Maddie, 27, Hunter, 25, Garrison, 24, Gabriel, 21, and Savanah, 18, with the TV personality — explained that she never agreed to a patriarchy.

“We were going to work together as a team to raise this family. That was really our main goal,” she recalled. “There wasn’t conversations like this, ‘Well, I’ll be in charge.’”

The Utah native pointed out that over the “last few years, it felt like Kody wanted his life to look more like that.” Janelle added that fourth wife Robyn, 43, “looks like” she is “willing to live that way,” but that’s not something she wants.

Janelle, who confirmed in December that she and Kody had been “separated for several months” after nearly 30 years of marriage, quipped: “It feels like it would be nice if I had a husband that would see my perspective as much as he seems to see Robyn’s.”

Part 2 of Sister Wives: One-on-One airs on TLC Sunday, January 1, at 10 p.m. ET.

Scroll down for the biggest revelations from Part 1 of Sister Wives: One-on-One special:

Credit: TLC/YouTube X2

Kody Calls Christine a ‘Game Player’

The father of 18 recalled Christine being “completely decided” about their split while he was still processing the news. “Initially, my issue was I thought Christine was playing a game,” Kody said. “And so I was … I was ambivalent. She’s a game player. From the time she was married, manipulation. Pouting. Temper tantrums. Just behavior things.”

The polygamist — who shares son Paedon, 24, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 21, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12, with his ex-wife — claimed Christine was messing with him for years.

“Some of the games that were happening, were things, like, when we moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, I was trying to reconcile with Meri,” he alleged. “Meri gave me this really cool birthday present and I’m in this place, telling Janelle, Christine and Robyn that I might reconcile with Meri. And Christine lost her s—t that day.”

He recalled the Cooking With Just Christine star coming to a family party and then leaving while “yelling to one of the kids that she was in a loveless marriage,” noting it was “two years before she kicks me out.”

Kody claimed that Christine’s intense reaction was because he was “trying to reconcile with Meri.” He added: “Because there’s something wrong in the relationship between Meri and Christine.”

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram; Splash News

The Truth About Kody and Christine’s Final Split

“To hear that he wasn’t attracted to me, it was terrible to hear. It’s super embarrassing,” Christine said, referring to Kody telling viewers that he was never physically drawn to her during their marriage. “After he said that, I was, kind of, like, ‘Oh. Then I’m done.’ It was almost a relief. Everything that I’ve done for you, for the family means nothing.”

The mother of six also weighed in on her former spouse’s claims that her “bad behavior” played a part in him not wanting an intimate relationship toward the end of their romance. “That statement just made me mad. I’m not a child. I’m your wife. You don’t talk to me like that,” Christine told Krishnan. “My bad behavior? That’s just insulting. Please, I’m an adult. I was furious when he said bad behavior. “

Kody, meanwhile, pointed to differing opinions on his COVID-19 rules as a “catalyst” for the pair’s split. “I think the intimacy issue was her justification,” he explained. “A bad marriage is a bad marriage. Everybody expects you to go figure it out and fix the marriage. What if a marriage just isn’t fixable?”

The TV personality noted that it took him longer to accept that they were over because it didn’t just affect him. “We’re talking about the destruction of this whole family bond,” Kody said. “It’s weird that just one person can do that.”

Credit: Instagram (2)

Why Meri Felt ‘Betrayed’ by Christine After Her Departure

“I felt very betrayed by her and that she was leaving me too. She has always said, ‘I didn’t just want the man, I want the sister wives,’” Meri told the cameras. “I know what kind of relationship she and I have had in the past. It’s been fun. It’s not been super, super deep, but it’s been a lot of fun. And I miss that. I’ve missed that for a lot of years with her.”

The reality star claimed she didn’t “know exactly” why she and Christine were no longer friends. “I have not always been the perfect person or the perfect wife or the perfect sister wife. We’re just not safe with each other,” Meri confessed. “I don’t think there’s one thing. It was over time.”

Christine, meanwhile, explained that she “ended the friendship” with Meri because it was no longer “safe.” She added: “We tried a little bit here and there in Vegas. Her treatment of me wasn’t nice. She was putting me down a lot in public situations. You can put me down as much as you want after a while, but then when I hit my wall, I’m done. It was just too stressful.”

Credit: Courtesy of Robyn Brown/Instagram; Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram

Where Do Robyn and Christine Stand Now?

During season 17, Christine made it clear that she wasn’t interested in being friends with Robyn after she moved to Utah. That revelation, however, didn’t sit well with Robyn. “In my head she is [still my sister wife],” the mother of five said on Sunday’s episode. “I don’t know how to just have her not be my sister wife.”

Robyn noted that it was “really, really hard” to accept that Christine didn’t want to be a part of her life moving forward. “When she said she was leaving she took away a really big dream from me,” she said. “I always imagined us when we were older sitting with our grandkids and just getting that sisterhood that we saw some of the older women in our church have. She took it away.”

Despite feeling heartbroken, Robyn told Krishnan that she is holding out hope for a relationship with Christine down the line. “I start going, well, maybe if Kody’s out of the picture for her and she finds happiness … then we can find a different relationship,” she said. “I wish that she would’ve let me in. We could’ve had a lot of fun together.”

Christine, for her part, admitted that she realized that Robyn was “heartbroken” after their conversation and felt bad. “She’d been pushing for Kody and I to have a good relationship,” she confessed. “I haven’t for years had a good relationship with Meri and Robyn. Not really. Meri and I aren’t good or anything but Robyn and I aren’t bad. I thought that Robyn and I were OK.”

Credit: Justin Stephens/Discovery

Is Christine Legally Out of the Family?

While both Christine and Kody revealed during season 17 that they consider themselves officially divorced, Robyn said in the eyes of their church, that’s not the case. “I feel like, we built these marriages with our beliefs in our heads and in our hearts,” Robyn said. “To break them it has to be the same system.”

She pointed out that when Christine is intimate with another man then her contract is “technically” broken with Kody. “If she’s going to go have — her plan is to go find her soulmate — that breaks that bond,” Robyn added.

Janelle echoed Robyn’s statement about how the religion works, saying in plural marriages, the religious authorities have to sign off before it’s done. However, she said that “Christine no longer believes in that” so the church teachings aren’t relevant.

“I think, this is Christine’s thoughts according to Janelle: She’s looking for that deep connection and that deep companionship,” Janelle explained, noting that plural marriage doesn’t fit into that anymore.

Credit: Justin Stephens/Discovery (2)

Meri and Kody Sound Off on Their Split

Meri spoke out about Kody’s past comment that he didn’t “consider” himself married to her after more than 30 years together, saying, “He just made that decision.”

She revealed that when they first moved to Flagstaff in 2018, Kody appeared to be “trying” to make things work.

“Our first anniversary that we had here in Flagstaff, ‘Cheers to a new beginning.’ As opposed to this last anniversary, he’s like, ‘I don’t even know why you called me Meri.’ He’s like, ‘We’re not married. We’re not acting as married,’” Meri claimed. “And I said to him them, ‘If that’s where we are, don’t you think we should address that publicly?’ He said, ‘No, I don’t want to address it. I don’t want that to be out there publicly because I don’t want that judgment.’”

The TLC personality added that since Kody has “already made the decision” that they are done, she has had to accept it. “I would [think about reconciliation],” she added. “I don’t think that he’s interested.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Meri learned that Kody almost reconciled with her after she gifted him Rice Krispies Treats on their 30th anniversary in 2020. “She put a bag full of them. One for every year of our marriage,” Kody recalled. “She included even our bad years. The expression was sweet and the mood that I was in was the right mood to try and think about reconciliation.”

Meri, however, had no idea that her former spouse was briefly interested in making amends. “That’s interesting that he felt like that. Because that is also the same day that we went out on a picnic and he was saying, ‘No, you’re supposed to have been courting me,’” she remembered. “I said, ‘Kody, I’ve been waiting for you’ and he’s like, ‘I’m not coming.’”