"Sister Wives" star Gwendlyn Brown has seen her family go through major changes recently. Most notably? Her father, Kody Brown, was once married to four women — and now, only one of his marriages still stands.
Having already shared her thoughts about her parents' breakup, Gwendlyn Brown is opening up about how her father Kody Brown handled his split from Meri Brown, his first wife.
The "Sister Wives" star, 21, opened up on her YouTube channel, where she's been recapping Season 17 of the reality show.
In her latest video, Gwendlyn addresses the dissolution of Kody and Meri Brown's marriage, suggesting that her father led his ex-wife on while their relationship was strained for many years.
The 21-year-old comments on a moment in which Meri Brown says that she wants to work on her marriage. In the next scene, Kody Brown says he doesn't consider himself married to his first wife anymore.
“The thing is, he is just leading her on at this point!” Gwendlyn says in response.
Gwendlyn Brown then looks shocked as she listens to her father say that he doesn't believe he will "ever be emotionally safe with (Meri)."
"Then tell her! Oh my God," she says.
Later in her episode recap, she reflects on Kody and Meri Brown's strained relationship.
“It is so unfortunate to see my dad going off about how he and Meri basically have this done relationship because she doesn’t know that. They haven’t had a conversation about it," she says.
The reality star then compares the situation to the way her mother, Christine Brown, handled her breakup.
"That’s what’s so important about what my mom did with him. She said, ‘We are done.’ She told him to his face that they're over and Kody hasn’t done anything," she says.
Gwendlyn Brown says that Kody Brown was "manipulative" in letting Meri Brown believe in "this fantasy that he's created that they can somehow work on their relationship."
“It feels completely manipulative to me because he’s basically keeping this information from her and letting her just be in this loveless relationship with this false hope that it’s going to be fixed,” she says.
While looking back on the episode, Gwendlyn Brown wonders why her dad stayed with several of his wives if their relationships were so rocky.
“How does it benefit him to stay with all of these women? Does he consider them trophies? Does he consider them his path into heaven?" she says. "I don’t understand why he feels this humongous necessity to be with them still. And I’m just glad that ones that needed to get out of that situation, have gotten out of that situation.”
Christine and Kody Brown announced their breakup in 2021 and the mother of six has since relocated to Utah with her youngest daughter Truely, 12. Christine recently announced that she has found love once again with her new boyfriend, David Woolley.
During a "Sister Wives: One on One" special in January, Janelle Brown announced that she and Kody have separated and said she's "really happy."
The same month, Kody and Meri Brown released a joint statement on Instagram revealing that they had come to a mutual decision to "permanently terminate" their marriage.
Kody Brown is still married to his fourth wife, Robyn Brown.