8 Signs Kody Faked His Relationship With Meri

Sister Wives Kody Brown told Meri Brown on their 32nd wedding anniversary that they’ve been faking their relationship, which took Meri off guard but didn’t shock many viewers of the series. While Kody and Meri have been married the longest of anyone in the Brown family, their relationship has been riddled with difficulties for years. With Meri finally opening her eyes to the issues that she’s been facing with Kody, things may finally be ready to shift in their tumultuous relationship. Still, Kody and Meri have been on very different wavelengths in their time together, and viewers of Sister Wives season 18 know he’s been faking their relationship for years.

Kody and Meri have been married for over 30 years, but in the last decade, their marriage has been fraught with issues. From choosing to divorce Meri to marry Robyn Brown to Meri’s high-profile catfishing scandal, their marriage has suffered from both sides and pushed them to distrust one another. Kody has felt less for Meri over the years, and while she has tried to cling to her husband, Meri has been more independent in herself over the last few years. While Kody has been trying to build his life with Robyn, Meri has been building a life for herself.

8 Kody Brown Always Put Meri Brown Down

Although Kody has said he always tries to be a positive person in his family’s lives, he’s often seen putting Meri down on Sister Wives. For years, Kody and Meri’s marriage was a happy one, shown off on the series as a sweet, grounding relationship. After years together, the foundation of Kody and Meri’s marriage began to crack, and as Kody fell more in love with Robyn, he found himself uninterested in his other wives, especially Meri. Kody’s spoken extensively about how Meri’s looks don’t appeal to him, how he finds her physically and emotionally unattractive, and how he’s no longer interested in her as a person on Sister Wives.

7 Kody Brown Wouldn’t Forgive Meri Brown For Her “Catfish” Romance

In 2015, it was revealed that Meri had been carrying on an extramarital affair with someone she thought to be a man named Sam. Meri had met “Sam” online, exchanging messages on Twitter before getting each other’s numbers and beginning to text. The messages quickly became inappropriate, and Meri shared deeply personal words and photos with “Sam”, only to find out that she’d been catfished. Sam was actually a woman named Jackie who exposed her to the public, airing Meri’s messages and sharing their affair with the world. Kody, obviously hurt, never truly forgave Meri for stepping out on him, even if it was with someone who wasn’t real.

6 Kody Gave Meri Less Attention Than Janelle, Christine, & Robyn

Although it was clear that Kody was giving Robyn the most attention out of any of his wives, he was also giving both Christine Brown and Janelle Brown more attention than he was giving to Meri through the years. While Christine and Janelle had larger families than Meri, it still wasn’t fair for him not to be splitting his time equally between all 4 of his wives. Kody was meant to be treating his wives equally but was still putting Meri at the bottom of the pecking order whenever possible to minimize his time spent with her. Rather than sharing how he felt, Kody simply avoided Meri.

5 Kody Wanted Her To Move Into A Barn

During Sister Wives season 18 episode 9, Meri shared her future plans with Kody in the hopes that he’d show a bit of interest in what she was hoping to do with herself moving forward. Though Meri was planning to move her business dealings from Arizona to Utah, she explained that she wouldn’t be moving away. Instead, she was hoping to downsize and look for a new home. Kody, who thought he was being generous, offered Meri the loft over his backyard barn. Rather than trying to help her find a place of her own, Meri was offered to be treated like Kody’s junk to be tossed into the shed.

4 Kody Brown Wouldn’t Reveal The Meaning Of His New Ring To Meri Brown

For years, each of the adult members of the Brown family wore a Claddagh ring to symbolize their commitment to one another. Each of the Sister Wives cast members had purchased their rings for one another, giving them to each other in signs of good faith and lifetime commitment to their families. Instead of wedding rings, the Claddagh rings were meant to be a special symbol for each other. Recently, Kody’s begun to wear a new ring that symbolizes his commitment to Robyn. When Meri asked about the ring, Kody purposefully stayed quiet. He didn’t want to share what it meant, being purposefully cagey to make Meri feel uncomfortable.

3 Kody Wouldn’t Invest In Meri’s B&B

Meri’s dream of opening a bed and breakfast came true in 2017 when she opened Lizzie’s Heritage Inn in Utah. Named after her mother, Meri and her mom were closely tied to the Inn and she was happy to be taking on the new business venture, as it was something she’d always wanted to do. When she first approached Kody about the idea of opening her B&B, Meri was shot down. Kody wasn’t interested in her idea and refused to invest financially into his wife’s business despite her having a sound, rational plan behind it. Kody’s lack of interest wasn’t surprising, but it was still hurtful.

2 Kody’s Clashed With His & Meri’s Only Child Leon Brown

Although they hoped to have more children, Meri and Kody did have one child during their marriage. Leon Brown, who no longer associates with Sister Wives or the majority of the Brown family, has had a tough relationship with both of their parents. Kody especially has failed to connect with his and Meri’s child. While Kody may not understand Leon’s life or decisions, he has chosen to remain uncharacteristically quiet about them in the media and on Sister Wives. In the past, Kody has openly clashed against Leon as they’ve chosen to live their life a way Kody doesn’t approve of or understand.

1 Kody Brown Made Meri Brown Give Up Her Legal Wife Status

Although Meri was open to the idea of showing good faith toward Robyn early on, the Sister Wives stars legal divorce was a huge sore spot for Meri. When Robyn and Kody first decided to marry, Kody had to push Meri into a divorce to allow Robyn to legally marry him so he could adopt her kids. Meri, who had been Kody’s only legal wife for over 20 years, wasn’t happy about the decision. Being Kody’s legal wife gave Meri clout in the polygamist sect, and having to give that up was one of the first genuine signs their marriage was no longer real to him.