‘Sister Wives’ Star Meri Brown Takes off Without Kody Brown Amid Growing Marriage Questions

The Sister Wives family has been going through some major changes, and first wife Meri Brown needed to get away for some time to herself. She shared a selfie on her Instagram explaining that she was taking a solo road trip. “In the car again for a quick road trip!” she wrote. “I sure do love solo road trips! Time to think about life, time to listen to my favorite audio books, time to jam out to fun music, whatever I want! And the things I get to see are amazing too! The beauty of this country is truly magical!” She also teased that she has “something fun happening this week,” although she didn’t give any more clues.

Meri and Kody Brown have been going through some major relationship changes lately, with them admitting on the air that they hadn’t had an “intimate” marriage in a decade. In a Sister Wives Season 16 bonus scene, Meri spoke briefly about a Season 10 moment when her sister-wife Christine was expressing being upset about moving to Arizona from Utah. “I can’t do marriage with Kody anymore,” Christine said at the time. Speaking to Sister Wives tell-all host Sukanya Krishnan in a one-on-one, Meri opened up about the impact that moment had on her relationship with Christine. 

“It was from about that point on, that [Christine] was not very open to me and I started realizing that she just wasn’t open to communication with me,” Meri confessed. “And I just hoped that things were getting better … because I understand the rollercoaster in a relationship. I just was praying for her.” Sukanya stated that it appeared to viewers that Christine lost her desire to fix things between herself and Kody after witnessing Meri and Kody’s struggles. The host pointed out that Meri appeared to garner support from her family until she could revive a “full fellowship with Kody in the true sense of a husband and wife.”

“That’s what I hope for,” Meri replied, despite Kody already saying that he only considers them “friends” at this point. “But I also know that my goal and my purpose and my point is to just be a better person and to just look at the family because there’s value to that,” Meri continued. “There is value to this family that we have created.”

Meri was Kody’s first wife. They were married in 1990, and then legally separated in 2014. Janelle Brown was Kody’s second wife, marrying him in 1993. They seem to have separated in late 2020. Christine became wife number three the next year, in 1994. They separated in November 2021. Finally, Robyn married Kody in 2010, making her his fourth wife.