Sister Wives’ Kody Brown, Meri Brown’s Relationship Timeline
No relationship is perfect — and the stars of Sister Wives aren’t afraid to admit it.
After more than 20 years of marriage, Kody and Meri Brown have worked their way out of more than one major rough patch. The couple tied the knot in April 1990 before Kody introduced three more wives — Janelle, Christine and Robyn Brown — into their family. Their unique home life drew nationwide attention when their TLC reality series debuted in September 2010.
“We have chosen to live in a plural family for many reasons, above all we have a testimony that this is what God wants us to do, and that it will make us better people,” Kody wrote in a 2011 blog post on his family’s website. “We value family above all else.”
Two years later, the Browns sued the state of Utah over its criminal polygamy laws after being investigated for possible prosecution. The case was eventually dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2016 — but the concept of a plural family has sparked plenty of criticism from the show’s audience.
Things between Kody and his spouses took a big turn in September 2014 when he divorced Meri in an effort to “legally restructure” their brood. Three months later, Kody officially wed Robyn so that he could adopt her children from her first marriage.
Kody and Meri’s relationship hit a breaking point after their divorce, despite their desire to remain “spiritually married.” During a season 15 episode of Sister Wives, the pair hashed things out in an emotional therapy session, during which Meri said their romance is “dead” and “over.”
The Wyoming native told Us Weekly exclusively in February 2021 he and Meri hadn’t been on the same page for some time. However, he didn’t think he could ever officially end things on his own.
“In plural marriage, I don’t feel like I’ve got the right to say, ‘This is over, this is ending,’” he said at the time. “I have dominion over my own body and where I’m at but I’m not in a place where, like, I can say, ‘Hey, I’m divorcing you.’ I can’t do that. … There’s other double standards that we have in the family that we sort of tolerate. And that other double standard is I don’t get to leave, but they can.”
The pair’s relationship woes continued play out during season 17 of the TLC series, which aired in 2022. During the season finale, Kody claimed he didn’t “want to be in a relationship with her anymore.” Meri, for her part, confirmed during the Sister Wives: One-on-One special in December 2022 that Kody “made the decision” to end their marriage without her input.
While Meri explained she “would” consider a reconciliation, she made it clear that her former spouse “already made the decision” that it was over.
Scroll down for an in-depth look at all of Kody and Meri’s ups and downs:
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
‘Sister Wives’ Star Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs With 1st Wife Meri Brown Through the Years
No relationship is perfect — and the stars of Sister Wives aren’t afraid to admit it.
After more than 20 years of marriage, Kody and Meri Brown have worked their way out of more than one major rough patch. The couple tied the knot in April 1990 before Kody introduced three more wives — Janelle, Christine and Robyn Brown — into their family. Their unique home life drew nationwide attention when their TLC reality series debuted in September 2010.
“We have chosen to live in a plural family for many reasons, above all we have a testimony that this is what God wants us to do, and that it will make us better people,” Kody wrote in a 2011 blog post on his family’s website. “We value family above all else.”
Two years later, the Browns sued the state of Utah over its criminal polygamy laws after being investigated for possible prosecution. The case was eventually dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2016 — but the concept of a plural family has sparked plenty of criticism from the show’s audience.
Things between Kody and his spouses took a big turn in September 2014 when he divorced Meri in an effort to “legally restructure” their brood. Three months later, Kody officially wed Robyn so that he could adopt her children from her first marriage.
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Kody and Meri’s relationship hit a breaking point after their divorce, despite their desire to remain “spiritually married.” During a season 15 episode of Sister Wives, the pair hashed things out in an emotional therapy session, during which Meri said their romance is “dead” and “over.”
The Wyoming native told Us Weekly exclusively in February 2021 he and Meri hadn’t been on the same page for some time. However, he didn’t think he could ever officially end things on his own.
“In plural marriage, I don’t feel like I’ve got the right to say, ‘This is over, this is ending,'” he said at the time. “I have dominion over my own body and where I’m at but I’m not in a place where, like, I can say, ‘Hey, I’m divorcing you.’ I can’t do that. … There’s other double standards that we have in the family that we sort of tolerate. And that other double standard is I don’t get to leave, but they can.”
The pair’s relationship woes continued play out during season 17 of the TLC series, which aired in 2022. During the season finale, Kody claimed he didn’t “want to be in a relationship with her anymore.” Meri, for her part, confirmed during the Sister Wives: One-on-One special in December 2022 that Kody “made the decision” to end their marriage without her input.
While Meri explained she “would” consider a reconciliation, she made it clear that her former spouse “already made the decision” that it was over.
Scroll down for an in-depth look at all of Kody and Meri’s ups and downs:
Credit: TLC
April 1990
The twosome tied the knot less than six months after Kody proposed. “Meri was so cute and sweet when I met her that I had a hard time suppressing my hopelessly romantic nature,” Kody wrote in the family’s 2012 memoir, Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage, adding that he believed Meri was his soulmate.
Credit: Courtesy Janelle Brown/Instagram; Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
January 1993
Meri introduced Kody to Janelle Brown (née Schriever) before the pair got “spiritually married.” Kody and his second wife share six children: daughters Madison and Savanah and sons Logan, Hunter, Garrison and Gabriel.
Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram
March 1994
Four years into his legal marriage with Meri, Kody entered another “spiritual marriage” with his third wife, Christine. They later welcomed six kids: son Paedon and daughters Aspyn, Mykelti, Gwendlyn, Ysabel and Truely.
Credit: TLC
July 1995
Meri and Kody welcomed their first child together, daughter Mariah, after struggling to conceive for several years.
Credit: TLC
September 2010
The Brown family took over the TLC spotlight with the premiere of their reality series. Season 1 introduced Kody’s fourth wife, Robyn, the first new spouse to enter the family in more than 15 years.
Credit: TLC
June 2012
After Mariah’s birth, the couple tried for baby No. 2 but Meri ultimately suffered a miscarriage at 10 weeks. She looked back on the heartbreaking loss during a 2012 episode of the TLC reality show. “I completely assumed that after I had Mariah, it would be very easy for me to conceive again,” Meri said at the time. “And that just didn’t happen. So, after years of a rollercoaster, we had finally backed off. … I was so frustrated and so angry. I didn’t understand why, after another 12 years of trying, and then, it was just taken away from us. I didn’t understand that. It was really hard.”
Credit: Shutterstock
September 2014
Kody and Meri got divorced allowing him to legally marry Robyn in order to adopt her three children from her previous relationship: David, Aurora and Breanna. “We have chosen to legally restructure our family,” the Browns said in a statement to Us at the time. “We made this decision together as a family. We are grateful to our family, friends and fans for all their love and support.”
During one dramatic Sister Wives episode, Kody revealed that he felt “deceived into a relationship that was very different than what I expected” with his first marriage.
Credit: TLC
June 2016
Two years after her divorce shook up the family dynamic, Meri pursued an online relationship — but things weren’t as they seemed. “At the very beginning, this person was fun, funny, just good conversation,” Meri later explained during an episode of the TLC show after she got catfished by her crush. “At first, it was kind of cool just to have that companionship, I guess. I cared about who I thought she was portraying him to be because I have a trusting heart and a loving heart. … The feelings that I had were confusing.”
At the time, Kody said he felt “lost” in the situation. “Meri and I were struggling enough. It was very hard to communicate,” he recalled.
Credit: TLC; Courtesy Mariah Brown/Instagram
January 2017
During an episode of Sister Wives, Meri and Kody struggled to come to terms with their daughter’s sexual orientation after she came out as gay. “I’m still in a state of processing this,” Kody told the cameras, saying the moment felt like a bomb being dropped. In a confessional, Meri admitted, “This is a little unexpected. I did not see this coming. … Kind of surprises me that she’s known for so long and hasn’t said anything to us.”
Credit: TLC (2)
January 2019
Meri’s dream of opening her own inn caused an uproar during season 13 of Sister Wives, when Kody claimed the effort was “self-indulgent.” At the time, Meri said her venture wasn’t out of a desire “to be alone and independent in the business world or anything like that. It was just something that I needed to get done.” Though the rest of the Browns were skeptical that the bed & breakfast would pay off, Meri hoped they would come around. “I know they support it, and I think that if I needed help with [the inn] they would be right there,” she said.
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
December 2019
In an emotional Instagram Story during the 2019 holidays, Meri looked back on her past miscarriage while sending support to other women who’ve gone through the same struggle. “I woke up this morning thinking about how it would be to have my 12-year-old boy with me at Christmas this year,” she wrote at the time. “Never thought I’d get the news today that a sweet little mom I know and love would be saying goodbye to her own sweet baby today too. #MiscarriageSucks.” Kody previously admitted during a 2012 episode of Sister Wives that their infertility journey took them both to a “dark place.”
Credit: TLC (2)
April 2020
During an episode of the unscripted series, Kody and Meri decided it was “time for us to actually take the temperature of our relationship” with the help of a professional.
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
December 2020
Six years after her divorce — and amid a particularly rocky patch in her relationship — Meri reassured fans that she and Kody were in it for the long haul. “Let’s just clarify something here. I love this man. 💙,” she wrote via Instagram. “I don’t owe anyone an explanation but I’ll do it anyway. … 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. … 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. … I’m not going anywhere.”
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
February 2021
While speaking with Us exclusively, Kody admitted that balancing four wives wasn’t always easy. “Meri and I have been in a very dark place for a very long time,” he explained. “It’s been more about trying to get ourselves out of this hole that we dug ourselves into. … I feel like [my wives] need to understand that — that they can leave. If it’s not working for them, they can leave. Nobody’s going to be a prisoner here.”
Credit: TLC; Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock
February 2021
After Kody said during an episode that his relationship with Meri lacked “value,” she revealed exclusively to Us that she didn’t feel the same. “I did not agree with that statement then, nor do I now because I think there is value to it,” she said at the time. “It’s always hard looking back over, you know, some of the not so good and not so graceful moments of the show. … There is always improvement to be made, but I am at peace where I am. I’m happy in my life.”
Credit: TLC
March 2021
During an episode of Sister Wives, Kody revealed that his marriage to Meri started to “dissolve” in 2015 after her catfishing scandal, and it never recovered. While he admitted, “I feel more friendly with Meri than I have felt in six or more years,” he also noted, “It doesn’t mean I’ve got any romantic inclinations within our marriage.”
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
November 2021
After Christine split from Kody in November 2021, a source exclusively told Us that Kody’s other wives felt “inspired” by the decision. “Meri could not be any farther removed from the other wives and Kody,” the insider said of Kody’s “very independent” first spouse. A second source later revealed that the Wyoming native was “considering starting fresh” with new women.
Credit: Courtesy TLC
January 2022
During the season 16 tell-all reunion, which aired in early 2022, Kody and Meri got honest about where their relationship stands now, with the former admitting that he doesn’t see himself being physical with Meri again.
“I’m not ever going to be in a conjugal relationship with her because I’m not going to go through that emotional torture ever again. … I’m not trying to make Meri sound bad, it’s just a bad match,” he claimed. “There’s a point where intimacy is just damage. It’s misleading to have intimacy in a relationship where there’s no real safety. I’m not going there.”
When asked how it feels to watch Meri and Kody struggle, Christine said, “Oh, my heart breaks when I think about their marriage. I don’t want that. I don’t want to be in a loveless marriage. I don’t know how she does it. I guess she’s more fine with it than I am.”
Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram
April 2022
A few months after the shocking season 16 tell-all aired, Meri seemed to hint that she was prioritizing herself and her own happiness amid her ongoing struggles with Kody. “I was called to love, not to hate. I was called to accept, not to condemn. I was called to be confident, not to fear. I was called to serve, not to neglect. I’m here to love, to learn, to serve, to impact others in a positive way,” she wrote via Instagram. “I am not here to judge, to correct, to hold accountable, anyone but myself.”
She continued: “I am here to laugh, to enjoy life, and live it to it’s [sic] fullest. I fiercely love and protect those in my inner circle, and that circle is far reaching. My calling, my job here on this earth, is to live a life of passion, of confidence, of authenticity, true to who I am, and true to who God made me to be. I am unapologetically me.”
Credit: Courtesy Meri Brown/Instagram
June 2022
Meri publicly supported her child, Leon, after they came out as transgender. “Someone recently told me that I didn’t have to have all of my s–t figured out in order for me to share myself with the world,” Leon wrote via Instagram at the time. “So here’s me, definitely not having almost any of my s–t figured out, to let you know that I am trans. My name is Leon or Leo (i love both) and my pronouns are they/them.”
In response, Meri reposted her child’s post on her Instagram Story, gushing that Leon is “my sunshine.” Kody, for his part, has not publicly commented on the announcement.
Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram
June 2022
Meri enjoyed a solo hike at the Grand Canyon, which she documented via Instagram. “Sometimes life throws little curveballs. Sometimes those curveballs aren’t too shabby. Embrace the change. Embrace the adventure,” she captioned a scenic picture. “This just makes me resolve to actually come spend a whole day out here taking in all the majesty.”
Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram
September 2022
The reality star again traveled by herself amid her and Kody’s ups and downs, this time to Mexico. “What a great day here in Mexico! I spent most of the day on my deck, basking in the sunlight, thinking, planning, reading, writing, all the things that fill my soul!” Meri wrote via Instagram. “Take time for yourself every once in a while! Nurture your heart and your mind. It’s good for you! 💙💙.”
Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram
October 2022
Christine finally told her fellow sister wives that she was leaving Kody during a season 17 episode of the reality show. The unfiltered exchange, which was filmed during spring 2021, was met with mixed emotions — especially from Meri, who reiterated that they all signed on for plural marriage.
“When I married Kody, when Janelle married Kody, when Christine married Kody, when Robyn married Kody — each one of us made a commitment to each other. To all of us. That we would love each other,” Meri explained during a confessional. “That we would respect each other. That we would stick through it thick and thin and we’d work these things out. Come on, you guys, can’t we get our heads out of our butts?”
While Meri hinted that she was still all-in on her marriage to Kody, her spouse confessed during the episode how frustrated he had become with all of his relationships. “I’m going to be the head of my household again,” Kody told all of his wives after Christine’s split announcement. “So, I’m not going to be circumvented in that. If everybody is willing to conform to patriarchy again, I guess.”
He explained: “I’ve been fighting to make everybody happy. My bitterness is out of trying to do that and not having the family that I had thought about and designed. If it is too awkward, or I don’t feel like the head of my household when people are around then I’m not going to have the whole family together.”
Credit: Arlene Richie/Shutterstock
October 2022
Following the death of Meri’s mom in 2021, Kody suggested that his first wife move to Utah to start running her bed and breakfast on her own. During a season 17 episode of the TLC series, Meri revealed just how hurtful Kody’s plan felt in the moment.
“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.”
Credit: Instagram (2)
December 2022
During the season 17 finale, it was revealed that Janelle and Kody are separated — and he wants out of his marriage with Meri too.
“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.”
In his own interview, Kody noted: “Ironically, Meri’s trying to support me and I don’t want to be in a relationship with her anymore.”
Credit: Discovery+
December 2022
During part one of season 17’s Sister Wives: One-on-One special, Meri got real about Kody saying he doesn’t “consider” them married after 32 years together. “He just made the decision,” she told host Sukanya Krishnan, confirming their separation. “I have never heard him say that to me.”
Meri explained that while she believed that Kody was “trying” in their relationship when they first moved to Flagstaff in 2018, there was a shift ahead of their most recent anniversary.
“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,’” she claimed. “And I said to him then, ‘If that’s where we are, don’t you think that we should address that publicly?’”
The California native alleged that her then-spouse said he didn’t want to “address it.” She recalled him telling her, “‘I don’t want that to be out there publicly because I don’t want that judgment.’” Meri noted that she “would” think about a reconciliation, but pointed out Kody’s “already made the decision” that they’re done.