'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown claims he never felt ‘safe’ with first wife Meri: "It just didn't..."
Across 19 seasons, 'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown's plural relationships have undergone lots of highs and lows. While over the years, Kody— not known for biting his tongue— has made a lot of claims, there's none more surprising than his revelation of not feeling 'safe' with his first wife, Meri Brown.
The duo legally divorced in 2014 so Kody could marry his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, and adopt her three children, ScreenRant reported. The two, however, remained in a spiritual marriage until January 2023, when they announced their separation in a joint Instagram statement. After being unhappy for years, Meri and Kody's relationship officially ended on the 'Sister Wives' Season 18 finale in December 2023, as per Yahoo! Entertainment. Before the eventual breakdown, Kody had admitted that he was not thinking of rekindling his relationship with Meri. The shocking confession came in the 'Sister Wives: One on One Special,' when he was asked if he had communicated to Robyn that he no longer feels married to Meri. Kody had confirmed, "Yeah, of course, Robyn knows where I'm at."
Kody went on to reveal that although he will 'always love' Meri, who was married to the man for 33 long years, he can no longer be in love with her. He explained, "I can't be in love with her. It's not safe for me. And when I say that, make up any b——t you want, but I'm telling you, I'm not going to sit here and drive the bus over her because this is sad. It's heartbreaking. It just didn't work."
Janelle Brown, Kody's second wife, also once offered her two cents on Robyn's involvement in Meri's relationship with Kody. She opined, "I think Robyn really does try to advocate for Meri, for better or for worse. As Robyn, I never would have put myself in that position. If Kody can't talk to Meri alone, then they probably shouldn't be having any kind of conversation. But I know that Meri calls Robyn in. I don’t know. It’s kind of a big mess to me." When quizzed if Kody was 'afraid' to share his feelings about Meri with Robyn, Janelle disagreed, saying, "I don't think he's afraid to say it. He was very vocal with me, to the point where there was no hope of a relationship there."
Despite Kody's efforts to dissolve their bond, Meri in contrast hoped they could overcome their struggles, as per The Blast. However, Kody remained firm in his decision to split, which Meri wished he had made public much sooner. She stressed, "He should have told me because I’m still sitting here holding onto the idea that maybe you might get your head out of your butt."
Since then, Meri has moved on from Kody, but she made it clear that she will be holding onto one thing from their marriage. In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Meri explained, "We've talked about it a lot. It's like, okay, I am connected to Kody Brown by having his last name, but at the same time, that's all anybody knows me as. That's all I know myself as for the past 34 years." Meri shared that she would likely keep the surname until she remarries. She joked, "Hopefully, his last name also is not Brown."
