When Kody and Meri Brown's wedding anniversary rolls around, the couple confronts some harsh truths about their strained relationship in TODAY.com's exclusive clip from Sunday's episode of "Sister Wives."
Meri Brown starts the segment by explaining that she and Kody Brown haven't celebrated their anniversary enthusiastically in recent years.
"I feel like the past few years, when we’ve gone out on our anniversary, it really has just almost been more obligatory than anything else. He hasn’t even taken me out on my birthday," she says in a confessional.
While looking back on their most recent anniversary in a self-filmed video, Meri Brown notes that Kody Brown didn't call or text her. So halfway through the day, she decided to contact him.
“I called him. I’m like, ‘Hey.’ And he’s like, ‘Hey.’ And I said, ‘Happy anniversary.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, happy anniversary.’ And I’m like, ‘We should go out on a drive or go to dinner or something. What do you think?’ He’s like, ‘I’m watching the kids. Let me check with Robyn,’” the 52-year-old recalls.
The scene shifts to Kody Brown's confessional, where he breaks down how he felt about the awkward conversation.
"When Meri called me and asked me if we’re going to do anything for our anniversary, I just said, 'Well, I’m watching the kids.' I needed a minute, to like, think. I needed a reason to be able to say 'No' in the event I just didn’t think it was the right thing for me to do. And I had to think about that," he says.
Back in her self-filmed video, Meri Brown recalls how her estranged husband called her back later and said they could go out to dinner.
"So he came and he picked me up and we went to dinner. At one point he made some reference to faking relationships or something like that. And I was like, 'What do you mean faking?' And we were sitting across the table from each other and he kind of gestured with his fingers, like between the two of us," she says.
The reality star goes on to describe what Kody Brown said in their dinner.
“He’s like, ‘Well, this.' And I said, 'What do you mean? I’m not faking anything.' He’s like, 'I don’t know why you even bother to call and say happy anniversary, Meri.' I’m like, 'Because it’s our anniversary.' He’s like, 'But we’re not mar...' And he paused and then he goes, 'But we’re not living as a married couple,'" she says.
In her confessional, Meri Brown says the conversation felt jarring.
“I felt like in that moment that he stopped himself from saying, ‘Well, we’re not married.’ That was like the big realization to me: That all this time, all these years, that’s how he’s felt about it. But I haven’t known that,” she says.
In January 2023, the couple publicly announced their decision to "permanently terminate" their marriage.
“After more than a decade of working on our relationship in our own unique ways, we have made the decision to permanently terminate our marriage relationship," they shared on social media.
During Season 17 of "Sister Wives," the couple's estranged relationship was on full display and Meri Brown said she wanted "to work on" their marital problems even if she found his approach to marriage was "disturbing."
Meanwhile, Kody Brown said their marriage was "a hard relationship from the very beginning" and said their relationship was "not functional."
Following Season 17, several members of the Brown family criticized Kody Brown for the way he treated Meri Brown. Christine and Kody Brown's daughter Gwendlyn Brown critiqued the father of 18 for "leading on" his ex-wife.
Christine Brown also said Kody Brown "strung Meri along," calling his treatment of her "mean and cruel.
In Season 18 of "Sister Wives," Robyn Brown said her husband's treatment of Meri Brown felt like a "dealbreaker."
“It’s like Meri’s here and she’s still trying to hang on. And I just feel like there’s just so little left and I’m like trying to show her that there’s still some hope and Kody is not helping me with that. It’s very frustrating and some days it feels like a dealbreaker,” she said in a confessional.