Are Kody and Meri Brown still married? It's the question that "Sister Wives" viewers have been asking all season long, and they finally have an answer.
In a new “Sister Wives: One on One” special that aired this Sunday, Dec. 18, Meri reveals that her marriage is indeed over. The 51-year-old drops the news after watching a clip from Season 17 in which Kody makes a bold statement about their relationship.
"I don't really consider myself married to Meri. If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn’t get an argument with me," he says in the clip.
In response, Meri explains that Kody never actually told her their marriage was over.
“He just made the decision. I’ve never heard him say that to me,” she says.
The reality star also opens up about what it feels like to hear Kody dismiss their marriage.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me that he would be so frustrated with Christine (who divorced Kody in 2021) and be like, ‘She just made this decision. We didn’t consult, we didn’t talk, she just made the decision.' And then he says, ‘No, I don’t consider myself married to Meri,’” she says.
Meri and Kody got legally married in 1990 and welcomed another wife, Janelle, into the mix three years later. Christine joined the plural marriage in 1994 and was followed by Robyn in 2014.
In 2015, Meri was involved in a catfishing scandal when she entered into an online relationship with a person who she thought was a man but it turned out to be a female fan. Afterwards, Kody said on "Sister Wives" that he and Meri "sort of saw our marriage just dissolve."
Meri and Kody both addressed the tensions in their marriage in Season 17, with Kody saying it isn't a "functional" relationship and Meri calling Kody's approach to marriage "disturbing."
Even though they seemed to be living separate lives throughout Season 17, viewers were left to wonder if they still considered themselves married.
In her "One on One" interview, Meri explains that she was under the impression that Kody was open to mending their relationship one day.
“Even since being in Flagstaff, he has led me to believe that he was trying,” she says. “You know, our first anniversary that we had here in Flagstaff (it was), 'Cheers to a new beginning!' as opposed to this last anniversary he’s like, ‘I don’t even know why you called me, Meri.’ He’s like, ‘We’re not married. We’re not acting as married.’”
At that point, Meri thought they should make a formal announcement that their marriage was over (like Christine and Kody did in 2021), but Kody wasn't keen on the idea.
“I said to him then, ‘If that’s where we are, don’t you think that we should address that publicly?’ And he said, ‘No I don’t want to address it. I don't want to address it, I don’t want that to be out there publicly because I don’t want that judgment,’” she says.
The "One on One" special host Sukanya Krishnan points out Meri's limbo in this moment, saying, “Where does that leave you? Are you still married to Kody? Or, do you get to decide?”
Meri says, “Well, he’s already made the decision. You just saw him say that.”
Earlier in Season 17, Meri expressed her desire to work things out. She shares the same desire in her interview with Krishnan when asked if she would consider reconciling with Kody.
“I would. I definitely would. But I don’t think that he’s interested," she says.
A total of three "One on One" specials will air over the next few weeks and Meri's revelation isn't the only jaw-dropping moment that lies ahead. In a trailer for one of the specials, Janelle also announces that she and Kody have been separated for months.
“Janelle has made it pretty clear to me that she’s enjoying her life without me,” Kody says in response.
Meanwhile, Janelle offers the following thought in the clip, saying, “I think if we both really sat down, we’d look at each other and say ‘Really?’ We’ve been separated for several months.”