‘Sister Wives’ Star Kody Brown Reveals He’s ‘Struggling With Plural Marriage’

Of all the twists fans have seen in Sister Wives over the years, this might be the most surprising. In a promo for the new episode airing Sunday, Kody Brown admitted he is “struggling with plural marriage.” Some wondered if the show is in danger due to Brown’s disenfranchisement from the lifestyle.

A new episode of Sister Wives premieres on Sunday, Feb. 23 on TLC, and it looks like fans have a lot to catch up on with the Brown family. In a sneak peek originally published by Us Weekly, Brown said that he is feeling the strain of the conflicts between his multiple wives.

“I’m cynical now,” he said. “When I was younger, it used to be a lot of pleasure to me when I’d see my wives goofing off and playing and having fun together. I’m jaded, I guess.”

Brown added that he does not “see plural marriage in the same light” that he used to anymore. After fathering 18 children with multiple women in one big family, Brown is beginning to feel like the communal aspect of their lifestyle is breaking down.

“I’m struggling with my wives and I’m struggling with their conflict,” he said bluntly. “We’re at a stage in our lives now where we’re far apart and we’re struggling with getting along.”

The clip reminded some fans of the conflicts in the Brown family last year, when the whole brood moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. They bought a big plot of land to build a home on, but on the show they had disagreements about whether that should be one big house or separate structures for the different wives.

“The whole idea of living together, I think, was so brilliant. And beautiful,” said Brown’s second wife, Janelle in a Season 14 episode. “I’m really concerned that if we choose to live in the four homes versus the one, our family culture will just continue to drift apart more and more.”

Some fans are now speculating that this conflict has not been resolved, and is in fact the source of the tension in the new promotional clip. However, another clip published by Us Weekly hints at conflict between Brown and his wives, split along different lines.

“We did an entire discussion about one home and I think there’s a tendency, especially with my presentation of this one house idea, where there’s sort of a loyalty bond that they get with each there,” he said. “It’s me or them.”

The new episode of Sister Wives premieres on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC. Another new installment follows at the same time next week.