Kody Brown is taken aback by the level of support Janelle is giving his ex-wife Christine in the latest episode of "Sister Wives."
Throughout Season 17, Christine has leaned on Janelle as she's confronted several difficult family conversations about her and Kody's divorce. But in Sunday's episode, Kody suggests that Janelle is providing more moral support to her former sister wife than to her own husband.
“I’ve always wanted my wives to have close relationships,” the 53-year-old says in a confessional. “And it’s a tragedy to me now, after all these years and Christine trash talking Janelle for four years about (our living arrangements), now Janelle and Christine have a better relationship?"
The reality star goes on to say that he feels hurt that his wife is prioritizing her friendship with Christine while he's in pain.
"I’m begging Janelle for a closer relationship. It feels like she’s rejecting that and just choosing to have one with Christine," he says.
Meanwhile, Janelle explains that she feels like she needs to choose sides in the divorce.
“I am pulled in both directions equally strong. I have my duty to my family — Robyn, Kody, Meri — I have a duty there. But then I really wanna be with Christine and her kids at the holidays,” she says in a confessional.
Later on in the episode, Janelle and Kody reflect on the impact that their current living arrangements have had on their relationship. Earlier in the season, Janelle announced that she bought an RV and planned to live in it while building a home on Coyote Pass, the family's undeveloped land in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Kody wasn't a fan of the idea and has mentioned on multiple occasions throughout the season that he would prefer not to live out of an RV. In Sunday's episode, Kody meets Janelle to help her level out the trailer and explains that the RV has been problematic.
"There’s a lot of pressure with living in this RV. A lot of new things have come up. It’s been almost daily for Janelle and she’s been rolling with it really good. I think she’s kept a pretty good attitude about it,” he says in a confessional. “But when we’re working on it together it’s not like we’re just being sweet with each other. It’s a little antagonistic.”
As the couple goes back and forth about the best way to level out the RV, they clash a bit and Kody admits that he's worried he will say something he doesn't mean during a confessional.
“I’m in a very vulnerable place (right now) and if I cross a line will she cross another line? And that sort of cynicism comes I think from unwinding 20 years in plural marriage and then Christine leaving,” he says.
The father of 18 goes on to say that he and Janelle aren't communicating well.
“I don’t think Janelle or I are being honest or realistic in this relationship as we communicate with each other about this stuff,” he says and claims that they never had a proper conversation about Janelle purchasing an RV.
Meanwhile, Janelle is annoyed that Kody isn't supporting her in the way she needs him to.
“I know I had told him I was thinking about the possibility of an RV. Maybe he just wasn’t paying attention. I mean, he really only sort of really tunes in once in a while. It’s not like he’s here all the time and when he’s here, he’s not always really tuned in,” she says.
In her confessional, Janelle says Kody has made it clear that he doesn't like the idea of living out of an RV but she also felt the need to do what was best for her.
"I basically decided what I needed to do for me. And I just sort of decided and I did it and he sort of had to be along for the ride," she explains. "But if I would’ve waited for him to solve the problem, it never would’ve gotten solved."