In another Sister Wives clip airing this week, Meri Brown got real about hugs and touching. The 50-year-old polygamist told cameras during her couch confessional that “They say that a person needs four hugs a day just to survive.”
Given the current pandemic, Meri was sure to point out that people probably aren’t getting the suggested daily allotment of hugs. She admitted that she loves “hugs and touch, from the appropriate person.”
Meri admitted to feeling ‘really, really lonely’
She may have been suggesting that she’s one of the people not getting her four hugs per day when she said not getting that touch feels “really, really lonely.” Meri talked about being careful not to push Kody to come across to him as overly demanding.
Meri referred to a scene from last week’s episode where she and Kody’s daughter Mariah and her fiancé Audrey came to stay with Meri at the height of the pandemic. Meri and Kody’s detachment was on full display in the episode when they couldn’t agree whether to fly to Chicago to help Mariah or let Mariah handle her move like an adult.
The girls would quarantine with Meri for two weeks before seeing the rest of the family to avoid possible exposure to the virus after traveling from Chicago to Flagstaff.
Meri claims she doesn’t know what Kody’s plans are
Meri snidely confessed that she didn’t know what Kody’s plans were after their quarantine ended. Sadly, Meri admitted that her 52-year-old estranged husband doesn’t typically come to her house very often.
She speculated that he may have a reason to come to her house now, though, given that Mariah and Audrey are staying there and he may want to visit with his daughter and her fiancé.
Meri looked unhappy and even angry as she sat with a long, awkward silence after she told the camera that Kody generally splits his time between the other three wives’ homes. She said very matter-of-factly, “Just calling it like it is.”
Kody admitted he only sees Meri ‘once in a blue moon’
Cut to Kody’s couch confessional and the curly-haired husband of four said, “There’s just been nothing going on between me and Meri” with no emotion in his voice or on his face. He went on to confess that Meri participates with the rest of the family for birthdays and holidays, but that he only sees Meri “once in a blue moon.”
Then he admitted, “But we quit dating.” He put the blame on himself when he disclosed that the reason for them no longer dating is because he chose to stop asking her to do anything together.
Although the clip didn’t reveal why the Brown family patriarch stopped calling on Meri, fans can surmise that it has something to do with their disconnect. Viewers seem to be split on the Meri and Kody relationship struggle.
Who is to blame for Meri and Kody growing apart?
Some would argue that Meri is to blame, given her indecisive nature, need for control, and possibly even her catfishing scandal that shook the family six years ago.
Others would blame Kody for his lack of empathy, spreading himself too thin, and seemingly putting all of his romance efforts only into his newest wife, Robyn.
Meri and Kody have been together as husband and wife for over 30 years. Meri became Kody’s first wife in 1990 and was his only legal wife for 24 years until fourth wife Robyn came into the picture.
Although Meri was the one who offered to legally divorce Kody so he could legally marry Robyn (to adopt Robyn’s three children from her previous marriage), Meri seemed to struggle with it the most.
Meri lives alone while her sister wives have houses full of kids
Meri is the only one of Kody’s four wives who is an empty-nester, so the fact that Kody has cut ties with her surely makes her loneliness even harder to deal with.
The other three wives, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn, have kids still living at home, and they share a combined 17 kids with Kody, as opposed to Meri’s one.
Viewers hope to get answers to the ongoing strained marriage between Kody and Meri this season, along with all of the other drama that inevitably unfolds in a family with one husband, four wives, and 18 children.
Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.