Kody Brown is allegedly getting closer with fourth wife Robyn Brown amid his split from plural wife Christine Brown.
On Tuesday, the genres star took to Instagram and announced she and the family patriarch have called it quits after 25 years.
“The other wives can’t compete against Robyn,” a source alleged to Us Weekly on Thursday, adding he treats her “like a queen and takes care of her.”
“They act like they’re still newlyweds,” the insider alleged. “They’re still very much in love.”
‘SISTER WIVES’ STARS CHRISTINE BROWN, KODY BROWN CALL IT QUITS AFTER 25 YEARS: WE’VE ‘GROWN APART’
Robyn (R) and Kody Brown (L) legally married in 2014 following his divorce from Meri Brown, whom he wed in 1990.
(Photo by Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
One source also claimed that it wouldn’t be surprising if his first wife, Meri Brown, followed in Christine’s footsteps.
“She and Kody have had zero relationship – it’s all fake,” the insider alleged to the outlet. “They’re together for TV, essentially. Meri spends a lot of time with her kids and goes wherever they go.”
“… Now that Christine’s gone, [the split] might be something that’s able to happen without the contract ending,” the insider added.
Christine confirmed that she and Brown had “grown apart.”
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Christine Brown announced she and Kody Brown were calling it quit
(Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
“After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave,” the 49-year-old said in a statement. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family. At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness as we navigate through this stage within our family.”
Brown, 52, also took to Instagram and released his own statement.
“Christine’s decision to leave comes with a great deal of sadness,” he wrote. “We enjoyed many years together and I have a large amount of respect and admiration for her. Although we are moving forward on different paths, we will always remain committed parents.”
The exes share six children: son Paedon, 23, and daughters Aspyn, 26, Mykelti, 25, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 18 and Truely, 11.
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Kody Brown said he considers himself to be "spiritually" married to his wives.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Christine entered the Brown family in 1994, People magazine reported. At the time, Brown was already married to Meri and second spouse Janelle Brown. Robyn became the fourth wife in 2010.
The outlet noted that Brown was only legally married to Meri, 50, but they separated on paper so he could officially wed Robyn, 43, in 2014. Brown considers himself to be spiritually married to all his wives.
TLC recently released a teaser clip that shows the women quarantining separately during the coronavirus pandemic while the family patriarch travels back and forth between houses. The new season follows the family’s move to Flagstaff, Arizona.
Last season, Christine described her marriage as “a struggle.”
‘SISTER WIVES’ STAR JANELLE BROWN SAYS SHE’S ‘AT HER WIT’S END’ WITH PLURAL MARRIAGE IN SEASON 16
TLC recently released a teaser clip that shows the women quarantining separately during the coronavirus pandemic while the family patriarch travels back and forth between houses.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for AEG Live)
“I agreed to move to Flagstaff and I followed Kody here, but it’s been a struggle the whole time,” she said. “I’m tired of feeling like I don’t matter. I’m tired of not having his support when I really need it. I’m just tired. I need a partnership. I need something different than this.”
In 2015, Meri revealed that she’d been catfished after entering into an online relationship with someone she thought was a man. However, the person turned out to be a female admirer. Brown and Meri entered therapy to cope with the emotional fallout, but the patriarch said in April that he no longer desired to be intimate with her.
“We went a couple of years, a lot of counseling, figuring things out, and as we went through this process, I’m looking for a spark – something to initiate some form of desire for a relationship with each other,” said Brown, as quoted by People magazine. “And in this time, it has never manifested.”
However, Brown said “there’s always a chance” the pair could come back together in the future.”
Kody Brown was only legally married to Meri Brown (pictured here) but they separated on paper so he could officially wed Robyn in 2014.
(Getty Images)
“My discussion with Meri right now isn’t about me telling Meri that she has to have a divorce with me, that she has to leave,” he explained. “I’m not doing that. I will never do that. My faith doesn’t allow me to, my conscience doesn’t allow me to. And because I haven’t done that, there’s always a chance that we might actually get back together into full fellowship.”
“Sister Wives” aims to show how Brown and his family navigate life in a world that seems to shun their lifestyle. The family shares a combined 18 children. The series has been airing since 2010.
Being married to more than one person, or bigamy, is illegal across the United States. The law in Mormon-heavy Utah is considered stricter because of a unique provision that bars married people from living with a second “spiritual spouse.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned polygamy in 1890 and strictly prohibits it today. The Browns consider themselves to be fundamentalist Mormons.
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Back in 2019, Brown told Fox News that the family has agreed on not considering a fifth wife anytime soon.
“We really took the fifth wife thing off the table a long time ago,” said Brown. “And because we don’t want to snub the concept, we’ve always sort of been very casually dismissing it, and I think that’s one reason the question keeps coming up. But it’s technically been off the table as long as we’ve done the show.”
“Sister Wives” returns Nov. 21 on TLC.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
