Sister Wives’ Kody Brown Says He Owns “the Failure of the Family”

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Sister Wives star Kody Brown is plunging the knife into his own kidneys. 

After years of blaming his former wives – Meri, Janelle, and Christine – for the failures of his first three marriages, he’s now acknowledging that he bears responsibility for not loving them sufficiently, even if he felt he was fulfilling his obligations.

He admitted during the November 2nd episode of the TLC series that he felt responsible for what happened. He explained that he needed to accept the family’s struggles, as he was the one in charge.

And at certain point he was left with just one follower—fourth and sole remaining wife Robyn Brown.

Kody explained that some people, specifically Christine and himself, reached a breaking point in their relationship. They were unable to resolve their issues, which he deeply regrets, feeling he could have taken more initiative to fix things.

He started thinking deeply about things while talking to Robyn, specifically about the many women who had expressed a desire to become part of their family.

He explained that the surprising part of one conversation was discussing the possibility of plural marriage – hypothetically adding another wife. His immediate reaction was a firm ‘no,’ because he believes your approach to one thing reflects how you handle everything, and he feared they would inevitably mess it up.

In fact, he no longer really sees the value in multiplying his love. 

Kody admitted that in any relationship involving multiple people, one person will inevitably become the favorite. Reflecting on his relationships with his wives, he confessed that while he wanted to love them all equally, he ultimately couldn’t. He even admitted to pretending at times, but realized it wasn’t sustainable.

The realization had him questioning why any woman would choose polygamy. 

Robyn explained that she was motivated by the chance to create something truly unique. She especially wanted to build a supportive community of women all working towards the same goal, something she hadn’t found much of before.

She explained her dream was for them all to be together, like they used to during their private talks, and for him to be able to publicly reassure her and the other wives that he would always take care of their needs.

If Kody had simply told each of his wives, both individually and as a group, that he loved and supported them, it would have made such a difference, wouldn’t it?

You know, when I really thought about what could have been with my past relationships, it wasn’t a happy thought at all. It actually just highlighted where I fell short. I kept thinking, ‘It would have been amazing if I’d known how to navigate those connections better,’ but honestly, I just didn’t have the tools or the know-how at the time. It was a tough realization, but an important one.

That’s not to say the dad of 18 couldn’t learn some new tricks. 

He told his bride that he’d been upset about a failure for three years, but he was trying to find something positive in it, thinking it might be a valuable learning experience for him now.

Kody explained that he believes those relationships are still strained, and he thinks it might be a good idea to start working on improving things now.

He’s had many insightful conversations with his wives, both present and former, lately. Read on for a breakdown of everything they’ve been discussing.

Now officially separated from her ex-husband, Kody Brown, Janelle Brown shared on the season 20 premiere of Sister Wives that she’s taking a similar approach to Meri Brown.

Although they were married for 29 years, Christine was never legally married to Kody. She explained that she had considered a ‘spiritual divorce’ years ago but didn’t know it was possible. When Meri pursued one, Christine asked her who she needed to contact to do the same.

Janelle’s former sister wife—who had previously been released from their church because she felt abandoned—was happy to provide some information. Janelle explained, ‘She’s been helping me reconnect with everyone.’

Madison Brush is still dealing with the fallout from her father’s actions. Despite being estranged from Kody, Madison—one of his six children with Janelle—shared on the September 28th episode that she continues to struggle with their separation.

The mother of four admitted she hopes her husband’s father will be present, and that she desires a resolution to their strained relationship. She acknowledged her own role in the situation, adding that she’s frustrated because she’s still working on managing her expectations and avoiding disappointment.

She’s finding it difficult to accept him as he is. She explained that she’s working on understanding that he may not have known how to be there for her, and that he could be going through his own pain.

He also might not be willing to cede too much ground. 

As someone who’s seen a lot of families navigate tough times, I’ve been following the Kody Brown situation closely. He’s expressed a real longing to mend things with Meri, Janelle, and especially Christine, and to rebuild relationships with all their kids. But he’s also admitted they’ve hit a wall – and he understands that any chance of reconciliation has to be led by them, on their terms. It’s a tough spot when you want to fix things but realize you can’t force it.

Robyn Brown, Kody’s last remaining wife, says she always desired a family, not just a relationship with Kody himself. She shared on the September 28th episode that she had received marriage proposals before, though not always traditional ones. She explained that several men had expressed interest in marrying her at various points in time.

She consistently stated her intention to enter a plural marriage. She added that if Kody hadn’t already been married with three wives, she would have responded the same way to his advances.

Kody explained that, despite not planning to be exclusive, he and his partner had become a monogamous couple, playfully declaring, “It’s just you and me now.”

Though he admittedly had one concern. 

Kody hinted to Robyn that he desired a more fulfilling intimate life. He later explained in a private interview that he believed polygamy allowed him to have everything he wanted, while monogamy left people feeling unfulfilled.

Meri is actively dating and has a clear idea of what she wants in a partner. She’s looking for a tall man who enjoys traveling – she’s a big fan of road trips – and, importantly, someone who loves dogs and isn’t a cat person, as she shared on the October 5th episode.

And she definitely needs someone who won’t scare easily. 

She described a difficult dating experience where a man ended their conversation as soon as he learned she practiced polygamy. He told her he wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation and wasn’t open to that lifestyle, which she found very hurtful. She felt rejected simply because of her relationship style.

Meri explained that it was the first time she truly understood that some people wouldn’t even bother talking to her because of who she was.

Janelle firmly believes she was the only one in her large family who really desired to settle on Coyote Pass.

On the October 3rd episode of the show, Janelle revealed she never really envisioned the whole family living on the 14-acre Coyote Pass property they bought before moving to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2018. She admitted she wasn’t sure it was ever truly her dream.

Although Kody’s second wife thought living there could work—she said it was a nice property and worth considering—she believed her ex-husband and his other wives were only briefly interested in the idea.

She explained that no one was eager to live in that area, especially not Christine. Meri would have agreed to move if everyone else had, too.

Janelle observed that Kody and Robyn’s former property, a five-bedroom house on two acres that they recently sold for $1.7 million, felt unfinished despite being mostly built.

Janelle explained that despite everyone’s initial excitement about dividing the land into four pieces, she quickly realized it wouldn’t work out after they moved to Flagstaff.

Kody believes he knows why his relationships with most of his adult children (except for Robyn’s oldest, Dayton, and her daughters, Aurora and Breanna) aren’t very good.

He admitted on October 5th that he has difficult relationships with his grown children. He explained that constant teasing and subtle jabs have created problems with trust and loyalty within the family.

And these days, not many of his grown kids are on Team Kody. 

Even though Mykelti Padron, one of Christine’s six children, had been the most visibly supportive of her father, she shared her thoughts on the family split several months after she, her husband Tony Padron, and their three children moved to North Carolina.

She believes that if he simply took responsibility for his actions, at least some of his children would try to reconnect with him. She explained in an October 2024 Q&A shared on Instagram (@withoutacrystalball) that instead of blaming his kids, his other wife, or outside influences, a simple apology and willingness to discuss his mistakes – like saying, ‘I understand I messed up. I’m sorry. Can we talk?’ – could make a huge difference.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve been following the Brown family closely, and the recent sale of Coyote Pass marked a significant turning point. When Janelle and Meri finally sold the property in April 2025, it essentially finalized their splits from Kody, and they each received funds as a result. Interestingly, Christine had already made a similar agreement – she transferred her share of the land to keep the money from selling her house in Arizona. It was a practical way for everyone to move forward and begin new chapters.

On the October 5th episode, Janelle playfully told Meri it felt like saying, “Goodbye, and I don’t expect we’ll meet again.”

But she certainly wouldn’t have waved off an even nicer present. 

If she had been legally married to Kody, she would have been entitled to half of his possessions, as it would have rightfully been hers.

Kody and Robyn had to finalize the purchase of their new $2.1 million home before they could give up on their plans for Coyote Pass. Kody explained on the October 12th episode that selling Coyote Pass became possible once they found a different house they truly wanted.

The father of eighteen children is also looking forward to leaving behind painful memories from their old house. He explained, “We’ve gone through a lot of difficult times here, and we’re hoping for a fresh start – something completely different.”

Kody believed that loving multiple wives should mean his love simply expanded, but in reality, he found it hard to give each wife equal attention. As he explained on the October 19th episode, he struggled to fully commit to each individual wife, and felt they didn’t always fully commit to him or to each other either. He felt his devotion wasn’t always reciprocated, either to him or amongst the wives themselves.

Looking back, he believes one mistake was giving Robyn a lavish lifestyle – a $1.65 million, five-bedroom house – while his other wives had more modest living arrangements. He admitted he doesn’t understand why his marriages to Meri, Janelle, and Christine ended, but he thinks providing Robyn with such a nice home created jealousy and resentment. He felt he had gone to great lengths to ensure Robyn’s security, and his other wives struggled with that.

Christine found it difficult to relax around Kody. As she explained in an October 26th interview, he was a very demanding husband with many specific needs and preferences, including what he ate and how he took care of himself.

Bottom line, she noted, “It was a lot.” 

Janelle isn’t interested in starting a new relationship anytime soon, especially after her breakup with Kody. She admitted to Christine and her husband, David Woolley, that being with Kody was exhausting, and she believes relationships in general require a lot of effort.

She’s really pushing back against David’s suggestion that she join FarmersOnly. In a conversation with the show’s cameras, she explained, ‘David just doesn’t understand that I’m not interested in dating right now. I keep telling him, ‘No, no, no!”

Christine explained that Kody was usually careful not to accidentally call his wives by the wrong name. She shared on the November 2nd episode that there were times when hearing another wife’s name would have been particularly hurtful, but he never made that mistake. “There’s certain moments you don’t want to hear another woman’s name,” she said, adding, “Never happened.”

Though there were some close calls. 

I often found myself doing that,” Kody confessed. “I definitely used to start arguments and then quickly change the subject or direction of the conversation.

To hear Christine tell it, she felt quite stabbed in the kidney by her former sister wife. 

She told David on the November 2nd episode that she felt deeply betrayed by Robyn, explaining she’d lost all trust in her. She revealed she used to share private things with Robyn, but then found herself in trouble when those conversations got back to Kody, who would get upset. Because of this, she stopped sharing anything personal with Robyn.

But Robyn insisted she was just trying to play marriage counselor. 

Christine often told me she wished Kody understood what she was going through, saying, ‘I’m really struggling here.’ I was a bit naive and thought I could fix things, but now I realize it would have been better to just let it be.

Meri used to be flattered by Kody treating her like his favorite ex-wife, but when he tried to chat over video about selling their house in Arizona, she wasn’t interested in being friendly.

He reflected on a conversation with Janelle, recalling that things used to be good with Meri – he specifically remembered helping her move to Parowan, Utah, and enjoying the experience. However, he noted that their relationship has become strained and awkward since then.

Meri maintained she was only interested in business matters, especially after hearing Kody’s comments on camera in earlier seasons.

I had to be firm and set clear limits with him,” she said. “It’s frustrating when he acts like everything is okay on these video calls, pretending nothing happened after some of the hurtful things he’s said about me and my friends. I won’t tolerate that behavior.

Christine happily accepted David’s marriage proposal last year, but her ex-husband believes he should have been consulted beforehand.

Kody explained that his youngest daughter, Truely, lives with David, and he feels he should get to know him better.

In fact, he mused, he “should have had the right, even, to discriminate David.”

Janelle was happy to get her part of Coyote Pass back and wasn’t upset about the money she’d already given to Robyn and Kody for their house in Arizona.

Okay, so she said on the show last night that her kids are actually getting on my side now! They’re saying I deserve to get back the money I invested in Robyn’s house, which, honestly, I do! But she admitted it’s going to be a huge battle, like she’s really going to fight me on it. It’s just… infuriating! I mean, she knows I deserve it!

She explained that trying to get money from Kody is difficult, because he always has a long list of excuses for why he doesn’t owe it.

He felt he’d already paid Janelle back for her help with their house. He explained, “Janelle helped us buy our house, and I took care of that debt back in January.” He recalled her telling him shortly after, “We’re even, you’ve more than covered it.”

Should Kody still be interested in having his love multiplied, there’s no shortage of options. 

I was really interested to hear Kody mention on the show – when he was talking with Robyn on November 2nd – that he’s still getting emails from women asking about the possibility of plural marriage. It’s just… wow. It’s a reminder that people are still curious, and honestly, a little unsettling to me as a long-time follower.

He told Robyn that his former wife was upset with his decision to end plural marriage. Then, surprisingly, she offered to become part of their family, essentially asking if she could join Kody, Robyn, and their existing family.

Robyn didn’t immediately reject the idea. She later confessed that for a moment, she actually considered it, thinking it might be exactly what she’d always hoped for and wondering if it would be a good match.

Ultimately, though, it was a no. 

She was upset they contacted Kody directly. She believes it’s generally considered disrespectful to approach a man who is already in a plural marriage; you should always go through his wives first.

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2025-11-03 09:19