The happy family, which includes four wives and 18 children, might be heading towards separation as the pandemic affected them harshly.
The cast of TLC's reality TV show Sister Wives seems to be going through some difficult times. The show is all about the life of Kody Brown, the patriarch of the family, who is in a complicated polygamist relationship with four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn. They have 18 children amongst themselves. The four wives used to have a strong bond but it could be coming to an end, as per People.
The show has been ongoing for 15 seasons, having begun in 2010. The family recently moved from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, Arizona, so that they could start a new chapter in their lives. They bought land together but are forced to spend time apart, which has caused a "divide in the family." Christine Brown, who is the third wife of Kody, recently said she "can't do marriage with Kody anymore."
"Our family has been feeling really challenged since we came to Flagstaff because we've had to be in four separate homes," Janelle explained. "I'm very worried, because it looks like it's going to even be more separation."
In a teaser for an upcoming season, Christine revealed she wants to move back to Utah "even though the girls don't want to." She also says, "I'm sure everybody hates me all the time," before she's seen telling Robyn, "We don't have to do anything together."
The pandemic has affected their "culture as a family," as per People. "It's not just that we are geographically different, because I expected geographically different. But what I didn't expect was to feel isolated and feel separate," Christine said in a confessional. "It feels lonely."
In the latest episode, Kody told his family that he has given a lot of thought to plural marriage. "I've told friends recently that I didn't want to be an advocate of plural marriage anymore," he told his wives. "Because I am more aware now than I ever was before the apparent and obvious unfairness in the relationship."
He said that while they have loved him, he doesn't feel that he has been able to give back the same way. "I know I have all the love I want and you guys sometimes feel like you're pining constantly for me to, you know, give you some," he continued. "Plural marriage, what I know about it, I wonder if I would do it again knowing what I know. Knowing how I think it's hard on all of you."
"I do not like the idea that you guys are in plural marriage with me because you were commanded to. I like the idea that we were in plural marriage together because we were in love and we chose to build a family together," he added.
Meanwhile, there are other members of the Brown family who are feeling lonely too. Meri, Kody's first wife, said that her relationship with Kody has become very sad, writes People. "I can't make him love me," Meri said in a confessional about Kody, who told the cameras that "romance and sex are saved for people who are in love. If Meri and I really wanted to be together, we would."
Kody also revealed that he and Meri have been estranged for four to five years. He added that apart from being estranged, their relationship is cordial. However, his idea of estrangement is not the same as separation other folks might believe in, according to the CheatSheet. He said that he sees her regularly and spends time with her but doesn't spend the night at her place. He revealed that he hasn't done so in many years.
The family doesn't talk about intimacy to ensure that the other members of the family don't feel jealous but Christine revealed that she still experiences that emotion. "I'm really sorry — I still get jealous," Christine said, as quoted by People. "I still get super, super, super jealous and I'm really, really, really sorry." She added, "It makes getting together hard — really, really hard."
"Maybe I don't like me either. I'm not really strong on my own, and it's surprising and it's hard," she continued. "And I thought I'd be stronger on my own, but I'm not. And it's really hard to just feel like I can contribute anything. It's hard to find that balance of being strong and not being a b****."
References:
https://people.com/tv/sister-wives-season-10-supertease-kody-brown-wife-relationships-under-strain/
