Kody Brown is fessing up.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Sister Wives viewers learned that Kody implemented strict rules upon his family.
At the time, Kody still had four wives – Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn – and demanded they abide by his protocols or risk not seeing him.
Most of Kody’s wives and 18 children felt his rules were ridiculous and refused to follow them.
In fact, his and Christine’s daughter, Truely, called them “inhumane,” and his and Janelle’s son, Gabriel, said his rules were “literally ruining the family.”
However, Robyn agreed to Kody’s demands, which meant she earned his trust further, and the rest of the family grew to resent her even more.
Because of his fear of the virus, Kody missed a major event in one of his children’s lives, driving a wedge between him and some other kids.
Kody Brown admits he made ‘two huge’ mistakes with his kids
In Sunday night’s episode of Sister Wives, Kody confessed that he screwed up big time.
During a solo confessional, the father of 18 discussed his strained relationships with many of his older children.
“During COVID, there’s two huge mistakes I probably made,” Kody admitted.
“I wanted the boys to move out because they couldn’t comply [with] the COVID rules,” Kody continued.
Sister Wives viewers will remember that his and Janelle’s son Garrison was unwilling to distance himself from his friends outside the home.
Kody blamed Garrison for being unable to spend time with Janelle and their daughter, Savanah, since he wasn’t “willing to maintain his standards.”
This didn’t sit well with Kody, so he suggested to Janelle that she kick Garrison out for continuing to have a social life.
Janelle refused to listen to Kody, however.
Now, in hindsight, several years later, Kody admits, “That just became sort of a foolish power game.”
Kody says skipping Ysabel’s surgery created ‘bad blood’ among the family
The second mistake Kody admitted to making involved his and Christine’s daughter, Ysabel.
Ysabel was 18 years old when she underwent major surgery on her back to correct his scoliosis.
Christine flew herself and Ysabel from Arizona to New Jersey for the surgery, and Kody decided to stay back in Flagstaff rather than accompany his wife and daughter for the operation.
Not only that, but Kody refused to help Christine with Ysabel’s aftercare once they arrived back in Flagstaff, putting 100 percent of the responsibility on his third wife.
Acknowledging he was wrong during his confessional, Kody continued, “And one of those mistakes was also not going to Ysabel’s surgery, and that put some bad blood between a bunch of us.”
Kody’s extensive list of rules caused division among the Browns
Kody’s rules were revealed in a “Rules for Family Social Exposure” list during an episode of Sister Wives.
Kody insisted that his family follow the typical protocols but take them a few steps further.
The TLC star demanded everyone wipe down their groceries and anything else store-bought with alcohol wipes before bringing them inside their house.
Everyone was also required to change their clothing after entering shops, other homes or businesses, only allow “local family” members into their homes, refrain from eating in sit-down restaurants, enact a two-week-long quarantine after traveling or having visitors, avoid movie theaters, bars, and fitness centers, socially distance themselves 10 feet from others during shopping (only if it was absolutely necessary to shop in-person), and the kids had to maintain a 10-foot distance from their friends.
Kody’s rules seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Many of his children began to see him in a different light, and to this day, he isn’t on speaking terms with many of the older children.
As Kody revealed, his daughter, Madison, didn’t even tell him she was pregnant with her daughter, Joey, and some other kids ignored his texts and phone calls.
Robyn tried to talk Kody into being more proactive in repairing his relationships with his kids.
But according to Kody, he’s made the effort … his kids just aren’t willing to reciprocate.
Season 19 of Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.