Meri Brown looks intense in this photo from her show’s one-on-one special. (TLC)
Meri Brown Leaves Sister Wives Family & Kody Brown
Let’s review our history:
In January 2023, Meri and Kody announced the termination of their marriage. They married on April 21, 1990 and welcomed their first and only child together, Leon Brown, on July 29, 1995.
Three years later, Kody married his second wife, Janelle, in a spiritual ceremony, and the start of the plural family began. He married his third wife, Christine, in 1994 and his fourth wife, Robyn, in 2010.
Meri and Kody officially divorced in 2014, but that wasn’t the end of their relationship. She did that so Kody could legally marry Robyn and adopt her three children from her previous marriage.
Perhaps that’s where the trouble started. But if it did, it was a slow burn.
Meri and Kody announced their breakup in a joint Instagram post in January 2023, almost a decade later.
“After more than a decade of working on our relationship in our unique ways, we have made the decision to permanently terminate our marriage relationship,” the statement read.
“During this process, we are committed to kindness and respect toward each other and to all members of our family, and we are also committed to the continued healing of any and all relationships within the family so that we can move forward with forgiveness, grace, and love.”
Yeah, about that.
Meri’s Relationship With Robyn & The Other Wives
Following the split, many things happened at once.
For starters, it became clear to fans watching Season 18 and the Sister Wives one-on-one specials that Meri was having trouble with the other wives as well as Kody.
“I feel like my relationship with Robyn, like that’s something that she and I are working on and trying to figure out and navigate because it is different,” Meri told host Sukanya Krishnan in the third part of the Sister Wives special.
Meri went on to say she isn’t “100% emotionally there” in terms of getting along with Kody’s only remaining wife.
In this same episode that aired on December 10, Meri emphasizes that she’s a single woman. As a result, her relationship with Robyn, Janelle and Christine has changed tremendously.
Meri says she can rely on her close friend Jenn, with whom she spends a lot of time in Utah these days.
“I know she doesn’t go out talking trash about me,” Meri says on the special, taking a clear shot at her former sister wives.
And they are her FORMER sister wives, Meri now wants to make clear.
“They don’t have my back,” Meri tells Krishnan of Janelle, Christine and Robyn. “Oh, by the way, I don’t have sister wives, just FYI.”
Just a few weeks before, TLC viewers witnessed how Meri was snubbed from a major family gathering.
There’s evident tension here.
‘Sister Wives’ Season 19: Will Meri Brown Return?
So now to the bigger question is — will there be a season 19?
Given the fact that Kody is no longer married to 3 out of the 4 wives he originally had, is there even a Sister Wives show to be had?
The answer, in short, is yes. Another season of Sister Wives is a go, and Meri’s on board to return.
Whatever drama is happening between the other women and Meri, everyone is still part of the TV family and returning. For her part, confirmed on Miss Understood Podcast with Rachel Uchitel that she would be back for season 19.
“I’m around,” she insisted, though gave no details on the show filming. She simply added, “I’m very excited. I’m not going anywhere.“
Doesn’t sound like much of a committment, being “around”, but we’ll take it all the same.
Meanwhile, despite TLC nor Kody confirming the show’s return, Christine Brown and Janelle Brown sat down with Entertainment Tonight and also insisted that another season would be on the way.
“We’re just going to do it exactly like we would do it in real life,” Christine said about how another season would work.
“There’s going to be times where we’re in the same room together, and you’ll see in the next season, there’s a few times where we’re in the same room together for the sake of the kids. We’re gonna be cordial because it’s about our kids. We’re going to be adults. And we’re gonna be apprehensive and nervous and not quite sure it’s a good idea, but then you get into it and it’s fine.”