In it for the long haul. Sister Wives star Kody Brown and his first wife, Meri Brown, have been through it all in their 31 years of marriage. Even though the couple hit several rough patches over the years, their relationship timeline proves that they are committed to each other — for better or worse.
Meri was raised in a polygamous family while growing up in Utah throughout the 70s and 80s. Meri became friends with Kody’s sister, who introduced them in October 1989. Just two months later, Kody proposed to Meri and they wed just four months later when Meri was 19 years old and Kody was 22 years old.
Since Meri was raised in a plural family, she was open to living the lifestyle in her own marriage to Kody. During a 2010 interview shortly after Sister Wives premiered on TLC, Meri revealed how she felt about welcoming sister wives into her union with Kody.
“When we were talking about marriage and stuff, at that point, [Kody] and I both knew that eventually we would take another wife or wives into the family,” she said at the time.
In January 1993, Kody wed his second wife, Janelle Brown. He then wed third wife Christine Brown in March 1994. In December 2014, Kody wed his fourth and final wife, Robyn Brown. Since polygamy is illegal in the United States, Kody was legally married and spiritually married to Meri, but he was only spiritually married to Janelle, Christine and Robyn. Kody and Christine later announced their split in November 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
Shortly after welcoming Robyn into their family, Kody and Meri shocked their fans when they revealed they were legally divorcing. Although they had no intention to break up and end their marriage, Meri agreed to end her marriage legally with Kody so that he could legally wed Robyn, which would then allow him to legally adopt her three children from a previous marriage. Kody insisted that his divorce from Meri was only so they could “legally restructure” their family, and that he and Meri would still remain in a spiritual marriage.
Unfortunately, Meri struggled with changes in their family’s dynamic and she found herself caught in a catfishing scandal. In March 2015, Meri struck up an online affair with a man named Sam Cooper, a business tycoon who was in his 40s. After six months of communication, Meri learned that Sam was not a real person and instead, she had been talking to a woman named Jackie Overton.
During an episode that aired on season 7 of Sister Wives, Kody insisted that he did not believe that Meri’s relationship with Sam/Jackie counted as an “emotional affair” but it seems the couple has struggled to solve their marital issues since then.
Keep scrolling below to look back at Kody and Meri’s relationship timeline.
Source: InTouch
