Christine Brown was never “genuinely happy” in her marriage to Sister Wives patriarch Kody Brown, according to her aunt.
After 27 years of spiritual marriage, Christine decided to walk away from Kody Brown and their large, polygamous family.
Kody first announced the split on social media, followed by Christine’s announcement on Instagram.
Now that Christine has moved on and is starting her new life in Utah, some of her family members have come out of the woodwork to speak on the split.
Recently, Christine’s cousin called her “brave” for leaving Kody and polygamy behind and even hinted that Christine may be searching for another polygamous family to join.
Christine Brown’s aunt says Sister Wives star wasn’t ‘genuinely happy’ with Kody
Now, Christine’s aunt, Kristyn Decker, has spoken out during a recent episode of Reality Life with Kate Casey, as reported by PEOPLE.
On Friday’s episode, Kristyn told listeners, “I could see it coming. I don’t think Christine’s been genuinely — what I call genuinely happy — for forever, since day one.”
Kristyn, who isn’t in contact with her niece Christine, said that marriage is “impossible” with multiple spouses and said that it’s “not real.”
“It’s kind of impossible to have a marriage when you’ve got a division like that [with] four women — five, whatever it’s going to be — and a lot of children,” Kristyn added.
“That’s not a partnership. It’s not a real marriage. And so I’ve just felt bad for her and others from day one,” she continued.
Kristyn speaks from experience, as she was also in a plural marriage, and she thinks that wives in polygamy aren’t happy in their marriages.
“As well, I was in [a plural marriage]. So I had to support that way back when, but it still breaks my heart. I don’t think any women are genuinely happy in that,” she said.
Sister Wives ‘glamorized’ polygamy, says Christine’s aunt
Kristyn also went on to say that what’s been aired on Sister Wives doesn’t reflect the reality of the Brown spouses plural marriage.
“The feelings that Christine and the other women are finally starting to show after all this time — and it started a while back — I was grateful that some of the truth was coming out in the show about the hardships of polygamy,” Christine’s aunt added.
“But for the longest time, they were glamorizing it, and it just wasn’t real.”
Wives in plural marriages are “not supposed to communicate their feelings and sadness” according to Kristyn and if they do, they’re “looked down upon.”
Kristyn shed some light on a topic that many Sister Wives viewers have wondered about: adding another wife to a marriage. Many Sister Wives fans feel that Kody’s fourth wife, Robyn, joining the family upset the dynamic of the plural relationship.
“I think that as soon as another wife comes into the family, the whole dynamics change,” Kristyn added.
“The marriage is never going to be the same or the relationship. I’m not sure, like I said, you can even call it a marriage,” she continued.
Kristyn also placed some of the blame on Robyn, who she said “definitely threw another wrench in there, and heartaches, and depression.”
Christine may have put up with plural marriage simply because it’s all she knows. She was raised in a polygamous family and her grandfather was a prominent figure in the community.
“No one wants to have their husband having sex with another woman and having children with them and on and on. It’s done because we believed we had to do it,” she added. “Christine believed that, that’s how she was raised. And so did the other women.”
Sister Wives returns for Season 16 on Sunday, November 21 at 10/9c on TLC.