SISTER WIVES How Christine Brown planned her divorce from Kody

“Kody and I are not getting better,” Christine Brown said on last night’s episode of Sister Wives “It’s been bad for a long time.”

Christine Brown had been unhappy in her marriage to Kody Brown for a while, but things really started to crumble after the family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and started living farther apart. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Christine’s marriage with Kody had completely disintegrated.

Instead of being direct with Christine, Kody seemed to imply that he wanted his wives to leave if they are not happy. He has essentially already left Meri, but refuses to completely sever ties unless she does.

During a brutal 30th anniversary date with Meri filmed for Season 15, Kody heavily implied that he wanted Christine to leave. He also directly told Meri that he wasn’t interested in her anymore and expressed disgust when she tried to kiss him or show affection.

The catalyst for Christine leaving centered on her desire to move back to Utah, which is something Kody has said he also wants to do. In private he told Christine that he wanted to go, and proposed that she bring the issue up with the rest of the group. In interview, he was gleeful about the fact that the other women were sure to shoot Christine down.

When they all got together to discuss Christine’s idea, Kody was right that the other wives didn’t want to go to Utah. However, instead of backing up Christine, Kody shot her down too. This scene, which ended Season 15 and started Season 16, showed Christine breaking into tears and walking away.

Meri followed her and Christine confessed that she no longer wanted to be married to Kody. Meri tried to convince Christine to stay by telling her to not listen to her hurt feelings. She pointed towards the beautiful view they were looking at on the Coyote Pass property and asked Christine to “look at the mountain.” This phrase sounded a lot like the line “look at the flowers” from Of Mice and Men and The Walking Dead where characters were distracted by beauty while being shot in the head.

For Christine, however, the Flagstaff mountains weren’t enough. She has seen the type of relationship Meri has with Kody, and she doesn’t want that for herself. This was a pivotal moment in Christine’s decision to leave, but, possibly because of Meri’s reaction, she’s keeping her true feeling to herself unless she’s talking to the show’s producers.

After Christine realized not only that they were never moving to Utah, but also that Kody was never going to have her back and give her the trusting relationships she wants. During this time Kody was also being extremely cold about their daughter Ysabel’s need for spinal surgery. Kody later revealed that he had initially thought the surgery was unnecessary and that Christine was using it as an excuse to go on vacation during COVID.

Although Christine really wanted to move back to Utah, which she eventually did, she said she would be okay with staying in Flagstaff, Arizona if she and Kody could have a functional relationship. She didn’t want to build on their Coyote Pass land if their personal relationship was in ruins, but he was having a more functional relationship

Christine went through the motions of building on Coyote Pass and even expressed enthusiasm when they were done choosing the plots. “The thought of living here on the property with everybody else and seeing him in full-functioning marriages – do I want that? Noooo. The best I can do today is just to pretend,” Christine says.

In interview Kody expresses that he felt that at least one of the wives was being disingenuous about Coyote Pass. “I’m constantly concerned that they’ve got their fingers crossed behind their backs,” Kodyy says. “I’m happy, very happy, to have everybody finally decided, but there’s always that card somebody wants to hold onto and that card is like ‘I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. You don’t love me as much as I’m supposed to be loved. You’re not being fair with me with your time. You’re not doing “this.” You know, our children and our problem children are your fault.’ First of all, it’s heartbreaking and it’s psychically damaging for me as a husband who simply just wants a family that’s happy, that’s satisfied in their life, that is ok with the choices that they’ve made.”

In November 2021 Christine and Kody announced that they were divorced. They had never been legally married, but they had a spiritual union. It’s unclear what all this means theologically, but Christine is now loving her single life.

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