Kody Brown admits he didn’t want to be “stuck” in a marriage with his first three wives.
In Sunday night’s episode of Sister Wives, Labor of Love, Kody discussed his religious beliefs about marriage.
When Kody took his first wife, Meri Brown, in 1990, then his second wife, Janelle, in 1992, his third wife, Christine, in 1993, and finally his fourth wife, Robyn, in 2010, he was bound to them for life.
Their church believes that legal or spiritual marriage is an eternal covenant.
Getting a divorce in their faith requires meeting with church leaders and requesting what they call a “release” from their marriage.
On Sunday night, Kody talked about Meri getting a formal “release” from their church leaders to finally end their rocky marriage.
Kody talks about divorce in plural marriage
Despite his once staunch beliefs about plural marriage and committing himself to his four wives for eternity, Kody admitted that these days, he doesn’t “always know what to believe” when it comes to marriage and religion.
“Jesus said not to get divorced, but it’s, it’s a big concept,” Kody said during a confessional.
Next, Kody made a statement about being unhappy in his marriages to Meri, Janelle, and Christine.
Kody says the thought of being ‘stuck’ with Meri, Janelle, and Christine ‘offends’ him
“I don’t know what to think about it other than it offends me to think that I would be stuck with those three women,” Kody confessed.
The father of 18 also insinuated that staying with Meri, Janelle, and Christine would have meant he was suffering.
Kody continued, reiterating that it “literally” offends him to “think that God would cause me or them to suffer.”
Kody is dealing with three spiritual divorces on his record but only one formal one
We know that Meri went through with the formal process to finalize her split from Kody, but Christine never did.
Christine no longer considers herself a part of the church, so she didn’t feel the need to go through the process.
Janelle still abides by the church’s beliefs but hasn’t mentioned seeking a “release” from her and Kody’s spiritual marriage.
After Christine became the first wife to leave the plural marriage, Kody admitted that he wasn’t looking forward to having a divorce on his record.
As he stated during a confessional in 2022, “I wasn’t a coward. … I didn’t want to quit! I didn’t want a divorce on my record here.”
Like it or not, having a divorce on his record wasn’t exactly Kody’s decision—he has since racked up two more divorces, making him a three-time divorcee.
Season 19 of Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.