‘Sister Wives’ : Kody Brown Calls Relationship with Wife Meri ‘Amiable’ But Not a ‘Married Situation’

Meri Brown Instagram; Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Kody Brown is getting real about his relationship with spiritual wife Meri.

During Sunday’s episode of Sister Wives, the TLC reality star, 53, opened up about the status of his longtime polygamous marriage to Meri and how his split from Christine has affected his unions with the other wives.

“I feel like my relationship with Meri is very good but it’s not a married situation,” Kody said in a confessional. “It’s an amiable relationship, but I don’t think it’s a fulfilling relationship for Meri. Not in any way.“

Meri and Kody have been open about their marriage being more platonic than romantic after her catfish scandal in 2016. (At the time, the TLC star entered into an online relationship with someone she thought was a man, but who actually turned out to be a female admirer.)

Since Christine, 50, announced that she was walking away from her marriage to Kody after 26 years, the patriarch said the fallout has led to changes in his relationship with Meri.

“Right now, I’m in the gall of bitterness with Christine,” said Kody. “On the other hand, I have a fondness for Meri because Meri and I are getting along. I don’t know what has healed, but I’m not feeling betrayed by Meri. I feel betrayed by Christine.”

For Meri, the marriage has remained largely unchanged. “My relationship with Kody has not improved as far as like a husband and wife relationship,” she said. “That’s not something that he’s interested in. I mean, it just is what it is. It’s where we are.”

Bryant Livingston/TLC/Everett Kody Brown (center), surrounded by Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown

While Christine has her energy focused on her move to Utah, the exes — who are parents to son Paedon, 24, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, and Truely, 12 — grapple with how to tell their youngest the news. (Kody has a total of 18 children between the wives.)

“Some of the older kids know that I’m leaving Kody, but I need to tell Truely and that’s really what I’m most concerned about right now is her reaction,” Christine said. “I really want to have Kody and I tell Truely together because I want her to see us as still a team.”

Later in the episode, Christine revealed that Truely accidentally found out the news when she overheard her conversation with daughter Mykelti about the move.

“Kody and I were going to talk to Truly, together but I obviously didn’t have a choice anymore,” she said.

After revealing that she and Kody were divorced and that they were moving to Utah, her daughter broke down in tears.

“I have just said the hardest thing to my little girl,” Christine said. “And I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what’s going to make it better. I just know that I am going to remember this moment for the rest of my life as the day I broke Truely’s heart. As much as I know it’s the right thing to do, today is just really hard.”

Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC