9 Signs Kody Brown Was Done With Polygamy Long Before He Publicly Admitted It

The hit TLC series "Sister Wives" was a show built around the Brown family's untraditional marriage style. The family practiced plural marriage or polygamy and their lifestyle featured on the show gained attention from both fans and critics. "Sister Wives" began airing in 2010 and documents the life of Kody Brown and his multiple wives and children. When the show started, Kody had three wives: Meri, Janelle, and Christine Brown. He later married his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, in 2014. "Sister Wives" gives viewers a look at the highs and lows faced by the family as they navigate their plural marriage.

Over the years, Kody's relationship with his wives became more and more strained. Far from living in harmony with all four of his wives, the series showed frequent fights and growing distance between him and his partners. Today, all but one of his sister wives have left the marriage, and Kody doesn't seem eager to re-enter the polygamist lifestyle in the future. "The idea of ever marrying again after the experience I've had, there's no reason for me to do that," Kody told People in 2023. His journey from plural marriage to monogamy may shock some, but there were many signs that he was done with polygamy even before this statement.

Now that all but one of his wives have left him, Kody Brown has said he has no interest in re-entering polygamy. Perhaps this is partly because he's happy with his fourth and remaining wife, Robyn Brown. Kody and Robyn "spiritually" married in 2010 and legally wed in 2014.

From the start of Kody and Robyn's relationship, it was clear they had something special, and many viewers speculated that he showed favoritism for Robyn. Some of the special treatment Robyn received early on included Kody helping her pick out a wedding dress which he hadn't done during his previous wedding preparations. Furthermore, Kody and Robyn's honeymoon lasted far longer in comparison to his other post-wedding getaways.

While sitting down with TLC, the interviewer asked Kody if Robyn was his favorite wife. The "Sister Wives" star reacted defensively, saying it was an "unfair" question. However, his further comments hardly disproved his favoritism when he said, "It's not about a favorite; it's about finding favor." Kody then blamed his other wives for any ill will toward Robyn. "There's a character issue here, and it's not just about my character. It's about their character." In this interview, the cracks in Kody's relationships with his first three wives start to show, while he has only kind things to say about Robyn.

Meri Brown was the first of Kody Brown's wives. As the first wife, Meri was the one who was legally married to Kody, while the other wives only had a "spiritual marriage." However, this dynamic changed after Robyn entered the household. In 2014, Meri legally divorced Kody. This was not done to dissolve their relationship. They chose to file for divorce so that Kody could legally marry Robyn and then adopt her children from another marriage.

Meri seemed at peace with the decision. During an episode of "Sister Wives" at the time, she said, "While that divorce process was really hard leading up to it and going through it, I feel like I've dealt with it enough that I can see a bigger picture." But while Meri made the decision for Robyn's children in an attempt to keep their family together, it still wasn't easy. Kody switching to Robyn as his legal wife seemed to further distance his and Meri's relationship. Soon after their legal divorce, Meri entered into an online relationship where she was catfished by a woman impersonating a man. And in the years that followed, Meri and Kody's relationship became more and more strained.

Although the name "Sister Wives" implies that Kody Brown's plural wives were as close as sisters, he revealed that he was less than thrilled by how well his wives were getting along. While his wives Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown seemed to be forming a close bond, their husband was suspicious rather than pleased.

"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," Kody said in a sneak peek of the show in 2020 shared by Us Weekly. But, as the years went on, his perspective changed, and Kody became more skeptical of his wives' friendships. "I just don't see plural marriage in the same light that I used to. I'm struggling with plural marriage and I'm struggling with my wives and I'm struggling with their conflict," he continued.

Although they had the idea of being one family, Kody didn't trust the bond between his wives, as he worried it could be used against him. "There's sort of a loyalty bond that they get with each there," he said, worrying the close bond between his wives would lead to them taking each others' side over his. The cynicism toward his wives showed he was starting to doubt their family as a unit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brown family followed strict rules to try to stop the spread of the virus. Kody Brown implemented guidelines for his wives and children to follow and said sticking to the rules was the only way he'd be able to visit them at their houses. In many ways, this seems reasonable as a way to keep the virus from spreading throughout the family, but, in practice, some of his wives became upset with the unequal treatment.

Meri Brown, in particular, was hurt because of all the time she was spending alone at her house. According to the strict rules, she wasn't allowed to see Robyn Brown or her children, and she became frustrated that Kody was not making moves toward a family reunion. "I think that since I've been following the rules and you've been following the rules, I should have been able to see your kids. I think it's just stupid," Meri told Robyn during an episode of the show (via People). Robyn seemed to agree with Meri but said the rules were up to Kody, not her. This tension further displayed the fracturing of the family, as Kody kept the sister wives separated rather than operating as one family throughout the pandemic.

Although "Sister Wives" started as a way to show a functional polygamist family, over the years, the series showed more and more of the difficulties within the family dynamic. Kody Brown's relationship with his wives, particularly Meri Brown, continued to get more contentious, and many viewers noticed the increased dissatisfaction in their marriage. In 2021, Brown admitted to his bad attitude on the show when he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), "I have to apologize for being grumpy, I'm feeling a bit cynical this season. Plural marriage is my toughest challenge. See you next week."

But for many viewers, this explanation of his behavior wasn't enough. He'd been very distant from Meri and often spoke poorly of her. One viewer responded to his post, saying, "Both you and Meri are in the same boat and you publicly bad-mouth her but she doesn't do the same. That puts her head and shoulders above you as a person in my eyes."

In November 2021, Christine Brown publicly shared her decision to leave her spiritual marriage as one of Kody Brown's polygamist wives. This came after years of struggling with their plural marriage and reportedly having multiple separations. Kody still seemed surprised and hurt by Christine's decision, but Janelle Brown pointed out that his relationship with Christine had been platonic for years. "He purports that he never saw this coming," Janelle said in an exclusive clip shared to People. "He's been telling me for years that he wasn't attracted to Christine. They were struggling in their marriage."

Kody later admitted this to Christine on "Sister Wives" in 2022 saying, "It's true that I wasn't attracted to you when we got married. I felt pressured into the marriage." In a clip of the show (via Entertainment Tonight), Christine said that there was no more intimacy in their marriage. Going on to say how unfair this felt, she added, "What so he gets to have an intimate marriage with other wives but not with me? And I'm what, going to have nothing for the rest of my life?" Christine's final decision to leave only solidified the end of their partnership. Kody's lack of connection with one of his plural wives was a sign that the polygamist lifestyle wasn't working for him.

Although Christine and Kody Brown's marriage had been more platonic than romantic for many years, her leaving their polygamist marriage was still a massive blow to Kody. It seemed to shake his worldview, and the doubt he felt following their divorce was one of the clearest signs of how his views on polygamy were changing.

"I've been sort of in the anger phase of divorce, and so I've not been addressing it very well," Kody said during an episode of "Sister Wives" (via People). "Every once in a while, I just get tied up in knots over Christine leaving."

But while frustration and anger are quite typical emotions after any breakup, the nature of their plural marriage added another layer to this one. Kody was also dealing with how Christine's leaving affected his other plural wives, and he began to question the entire family dynamic. "It's made me question getting into plural marriage. It's made me question my faith and especially question religion. The message that we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now," Kody admitted.

Despite the hit TLC show "Sister Wives" being made around Kody Brown's relationship with his four wives, it became clearer that Kody was dissatisfied in most of those marriages. Soon after Christine Brown left the marriage, Kody and Janelle Brown announced their separation in 2022. And like that, the TLC star, known for his polygamist lifestyle, was down to two wives, Robyn and Meri Brown.

But, even with his number of wives dwindling, Kody's relationship with one of his wives was still strained. Meri and Kody had their share of relationship problems, and they only became more distant over the years. During a sneak peek of the "Sister Wives" shared by People, Kody admitted how far they'd grown apart, saying, "I feel like Meri and I have had a reasonably amiable relationship. It's distant, I don't see her very often. I don't know what to do with a marriage that's supposed to be eternal but doesn't have any fire." 

The lack of love between Meri and Kody made it obvious to many that they were also heading toward a split. Despite the unhappiness in their relationship, Robyn still hoped Meri and Kody could reconcile and continue in their plural marriage. But, in the end, the couple also announced their split in 2023, bringing Kody down to one wife.

Many of the signs that Kody Brown was tired of polygamy came from his own mouth. In fact, followers of "Sister Wives" may have seen this coming for quite some time if they paid attention to Kody's increasing criticism of his marriage style. Rather than advertising the virtues of plural marriage, Kody gave viewers a personal look into how much he was struggling in his relationships.

During an episode of the show shared by People, Brown discussed how he'd felt inspired to take part in polygamy as part of his religious practice, but after his wife, Christine Brown, left the plural marriage, he was starting to question it. "You start looking up to the heavens and going, 'Geez, Father. You inspired me to do this. Why is it such a mess now?'" Kody said. "It really has set me on my heels and had me questioning the lifestyle itself. It's a challenge." When asked if he ever questions his own choice to be polygamist, the TLC star answered definitively, "Oh, hell yes — yes. I question it all the time."