Sister Wives patriarch Kody Brown and his wives disagreed over the idea of long-distance plural marriage.
In a new clip from this Sunday’s episode, the Browns reflected on the future of their polygamous marriage.
Meri Brown opened the scene, which you can watch here, by confessing that plural marriages need balance to work.
Meri Brown talks relationships with her sister wives
“I think it’s very important for plural wives to have a balance,” Meri expressed.
The 50-year-old TLC star went on to explain that there are expectations and hopes in plural marriage, but they aren’t necessarily requirements.
She continued, “Like, we don’t have to always be together all the time. We don’t have to be best friends. We don’t have to do any of that.”
Meri and Kody then shared a conversation alone outside and Meri confessed to her estranged husband, “Honestly, I think we all just got selfish.”
During his confessional, Kody then questioned whether the family truly enjoyed living nearby while living in Vegas on the cul-de-sac.
Kody admitted that he doesn’t think his wives like each other or even want to be near each other.
Sister Wives star Kody Brown proposes long-distance plural marriage
“Do you wanna be around each other?” Kody asked, rhetorically. “Because, I mean, I’m being accusatory but I don’t believe you do.”
Last season, Kody admitted that his wives are happier when they’re farther apart and less interactive.
Kody then revealed that he’s had male friends – who were also polygamists – who had wives living in different states during their marriage. And it looks like he considered following his friends’ leads because he proposed the question about his wives.
“Well, who’s to say that Meri couldn’t live in Parowan [Utah]? And who’s to say Christine couldn’t live in Salt Lake [City, Utah]?” Kody hypothetically proposed.
He continued, “And who’s to say that Janelle and Robyn if they – because they love it so much here – couldn’t just stay here?”
Kody Brown’s wives shoot down his idea of long-distance marriage
Christine had her turn on the confessional sofa and wasn’t convinced that having wives living in different states was conducive to a functioning marriage.
“If you’re separated by states, I don’t see how that’s a full-functioning marriage. I would not be interested in a marriage separated by states,” Christine stated.
As Sister Wives fans are now aware, Christine wasn’t kidding. She proved just how disinterested she was in a long-distance marriage when she decided to call it quits with Kody earlier this month and called Kody’s bluff by moving to Utah.
Robyn then took to the couch to confess, “If Kody decided to move and he’s just… really doesn’t care what I think or feel or whatever, I would go with him,” she said, begrudgingly.
“I’d do what I needed to do,” Robyn added.
Janelle weighed in on the logistics of a long-distance, plural marriage.
“I don’t think it’s healthy,” Janelle admitted. “If you’re truly wanting to be a part of a cohesive family, you can’t live that far apart from each other.”
Meri agreed with her sister wives when it comes to living in different states than each other and Kody.
“The idea of being married to Kody and living in a different state is pretty stupid,” Meri bluntly admitted.
Meri admitted that even though she went into the idea of long-distance marriage knowing their marriage is “fractured,” it still didn’t make sense to her.
Meri and Kody Brown’s ‘fractured’ marriage
Meri proposed the hypothetical question, “Would it be any different if I lived up at my B&B or something, you know? No!”
“It wouldn’t,” Meri continued. “And you know what? It wouldn’t help our relationship because I would be that far away.”
Kody took to the confessional couch for another solo session and told the camera, “At this point in my life, this relationship is basically where I have an amiable relationship with [Meri] with no desire or interest in a romantic relationship.”
Kody admitted that going forward, he doesn’t know what the future holds. “And I don’t know how we’re going to continue moving forward.”
“But now we’re actually in a much better relationship,” Kody added. “It’s just not romantic.”
Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC and Discovery+.