‘Sister Wives’ Star Meri Brown Says Her ‘Rollercoaster’ Marriage to Kody Was Doomed Even Without Polygamy

Meri Brown’s marriage to Kody Brown had good moments and bad moments. But it was always doomed to end in divorce, the Sister Wives star recently said, even if Robyn Brown and her other sister wives weren’t in the picture. 

Meri Brown opens up about ‘rollercoaster’ marriage to Kody Brown 

Meri was a guest on the September 11 episode of the I Do, Part 2 podcast with Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes. She opened up about her marriage and her complicated relationship with her ex, revealing that there were some fundamental issues between them that had nothing to do with polygamy. 

“Kody and I had some issues, like many marriages do … ours was a rollercoaster marriage from the beginning,” she said. “We had high highs and low lows. I’ve got so many good memories, but also, there’s, you know, not so good memories. I think that’s normal.”

“It just came down to the fact that both of us weren’t willing to work on it,” she continued. “And if you’re not both willing to work on it, it’s not going to work.”

‘Sister Wives’ star says Kody has a different ‘soulmate’ 

How much of a role did Kody’s other marriages play in the breakdown of his relationship with Meri? While fans often point to his relationship with fourth wife Robyn Brown as the main factor in the demise of the plural family, Meri says that wasn’t exactly the case. 

“If the other spouses weren’t there, could you and your husband have lived happily ever after?” T.J. asked. 

“No, I don’t think we would have,” Meri replied. “I don’t think that we would have. Because it was, like, he – and he said it on the show, so it’s not like I’m throwing him under the bus, he’s saying it himself – he didn’t love me like he needed to love me, right?”

Kody’s lack of love for Meri – and his other wives – became abundantly clear once he met Robyn, though. 

“His soulmate is somebody else,” Meri said, referring to her former sister wife, Robyn. “I think it became hard for him to manage and to carry four relationships. I think he was just tired of it, honestly.” 

Though Meri and Kody are now both legally and spiritually divorced, she still speaks to her ex occasionally. 

“We still have a very rollercoaster relationship,” she said. “It is what it is. I wish him the best. I think he’s a great person. He’s very charismatic. There’s things I wish he would improve, but that’s just my perspective. I’m sure he thinks that there’s things in me that could improve. This is why we are split, right? But I don’t think that he’s a bad person.”

“Our values just don’t align,” she added. “And when we try to push those on each other is when we have conflict.”

Sister Wives Season 20 premieres Sunday, September 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC. Episodes stream on HBO Max. 

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