In this Sunday’s upcoming episode of “Sister Wives,” Meri Brown begins to see her tense relationship with Kody Brown in a different light. Sunday’s episode of “Sister Wives,” Kody and Meri Brown face some hard realities about their tense marriage as their wedding anniversary approaches.
Beginning the section, Meri Brown explains that she and Kody Brown haven’t had a big anniversary celebration in the past few years.
“I feel like the past few years, when we’ve gone out on our anniversary, it really has just almost been more obligatory than anything else. He hasn’t even taken me out on my birthday,” she says in a confessional.
While looking back on their most recent anniversary in a self-filmed video, Meri Brown notes that Kody Brown didn’t call or text her. So halfway through the day, she decided to contact him.
“I called him. I’m like, ‘Hey.’ And he’s like, ‘Hey.’ And I said, ‘Happy anniversary.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, happy anniversary.’ And I’m like, ‘We should go out on a drive or go to dinner or something. What do you think?’ He’s like, ‘I’m watching the kids. Let me check with Robyn,’” the 52-year-old recalls.
The scene shifts to Kody Brown’s confessional, where he breaks down how he felt about the awkward conversation.
“When Meri called me and asked me if we’re going to do anything for our anniversary, I just said, ‘Well, I’m watching the kids.’ I needed a minute, to like, think. I needed a reason to be able to say ‘No’ in the event I just didn’t think it was the right thing for me to do. And I had to think about that,” he says.
Meri Brown remembers from her self-shot video that she received a call later from her divorced husband asking to go out to supper.
“After that, he came to get me and we had dinner. He mentioned something about fabricating relationships at one time. ‘What do you mean faking?’ I asked. He made a gesture with his fingers, indicating something between the two of us, as we were seated across the table from one another,” the woman adds.
The reality star continues by summarizing Kody Brown’s remarks throughout their supper.
“He’s like, ‘Well, this.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m not faking anything.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know why you even bother to call and say happy anniversary, Meri.’ I’m like, ‘Because it’s our anniversary.’ He’s like, ‘But we’re not mar…’ And he paused and then he goes, ‘But we’re not living as a married couple,'” she says.
In her confessional, Meri Brown says the conversation felt jarring.
“I felt like in that moment that he stopped himself from saying, ‘Well, we’re not married.’ That was like the big realization to me: That all this time, all these years, that’s how he’s felt about it. But I haven’t known that,” she says.
In January 2023, the couple publicly announced their decision to “permanently terminate” their marriage.
“After more than a decade of working on our relationship in our own unique ways, we have made the decision to permanently terminate our marriage relationship,” they shared on social media.
The couple’s strained relationship was evident during Season 17 of “Sister Wives,” and Meri Brown stated that she wanted “to work on” their marital issues despite thinking his approach to marriage was “disturbing.”
Kody Brown, meanwhile, said that their marriage was “not functional” and that it had been “a hard relationship from the very beginning.” After Season 17, a number of Brown family members chastised Kody Brown for his treatment of Meri Brown. Gwendlyn Brown, the 18-year-old daughter of Christine and Kody Brown, criticized her father for “leading on” his ex-wife.
Christine Brown also said Kody Brown “strung Meri along,” calling his treatment of her “mean and cruel. In Season 18 of “Sister Wives,” Robyn Brown said her husband’s treatment of Meri Brown felt like a “dealbreaker.”
“It’s like Meri’s here and she’s still trying to hang on. And I just feel like there’s just so little left and I’m like trying to show her that there’s still some hope and Kody is not helping me with that. It’s very frustrating and some days it feels like a dealbreaker,” she said in a confessional.