This season of Sister Wives has been about the breakdown of patriarch Kody Brown‘s relationships with three of his wives: Meri, Christine, and Janelle. The situation has gotten so bad that Kody and Christine have officially split, while his relationships with the other two are hanging by a thread. His relationship with his fourth wife, Robyn, has held steady, but he’s considering all-new wives amid the drama.
Kody’s first wife Meri posted a sad yet cheeky video to her Instagram on Saturday, revealing that she had bought herself flowers for Valentine’s Day, presumably because Kody had done nothing. “Who could have gotten me flowers?… Me!” says the audio in the video as Meri holds the lovely bouquet. “Sometimes you just gotta bring your own sunshine!” she captioned the post. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Her commenters shared their own experiences buying themselves flowers while pointing out that Meri deserved better.
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Kody revealed earlier in the season that he and Meri no longer had an “intimate” marriage. “This is my family, like I don’t understand people who think, ‘Well just because you don’t have this relationship with Kody, why don’t you just leave?’ Because I don’t want to,” Meri said. “It doesn’t make sense to me when people ask me that all the time.” Meri and Kody married in 1990 and introduced Janelle Brown into their plural marriage three years later. In 1994, Christine joined the marriage, and in 2010, Robyn Brown was added to the family, marrying Kody legally in 2014 after Meri separated from him legally to allow for their marriage.
Kody explained that by no longer being intimate with Meri, “There’s a point where intimacy is just damaged. It’s misleading to have intimacy in a relationship where there is no real safety, I’m not going there.” Asked if he doesn’t “feel safe” with Meri, Kody replied, “No, and I never will again. I will be her friend, I will do what I can to protect her. I will build a house for her out on Coyote Pass, but I’m never going to feel safe in an intimate place.”
Nevertheless, Meri has committed to staying with the family to continue being there for the family, the children and Kody. “I don’t think that’s enough for anybody, but everybody makes their choices,” Kody said. Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
