Sister Wives star Meri Brown has seen ex-husband Kody Brown struggle in his relationships with many of his children, including their 29-year-old child, Leon.
“I know that [Kody and Leon] talk on occasion, but I know that Kody has been struggling with many of his relationships with his kids, and I hope that they can figure that out,” Meri, 53, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, December 10. “I think there’s got to be a lot of conversations and healing to make that happen.”
She added, “I think any healing takes time and it takes both parties, so that’s going to be something he’s going to have to deal with on an individual basis with anybody he wants to heal relationships.”
Meri and Kody, 55, were married between 1990 and 2014 when the TLC patriarch asked to legally dissolve their marriage in order to tie the knot with Robyn Brown and adopt her three children from a past relationship. Meri, meanwhile, remained spiritually married to Kody for almost 10 more years until they confirmed their separation in January 2023.
Meri and Kody are parents of Leon, who publicly came out as transgender in 2022 and uses they/them pronouns. Kody also shares 17 other children with ex-wives Christine Brown Wooley and Janelle Brown and current wife Robyn, 46. (Kody and Janelle’s son Garrison died by suicide in March at the age of 25.)
Meri further noted that she doesn’t “talk very often” with Kody and Robyn.
“I’m in a place of moving forward in my life and doing things that progress my life, and that’s just kind of part of my past,” she said on Tuesday, adding that she is only “cordial” with Kody in passing.
“We’re cordial when we see each other. We’re kind to each other, but we’re not seeking each other out to have a phone call or a text conversation,” Meri explained. “He says often, ‘We’ll be friends, we’ll be friends,’ and it’s like, ‘OK, we’ll be friendly,’ but it’s not like we’re ‘best friend’ status or anything like that. I’m good with it because I need people and situations in my life that are going to progress what I’m doing — and that’s not him.”
According to Meri, she has been leaning on Janelle, 55, and a “few other people [who] are my cheerleaders.”
“They just want the best for me and they want to come along for the ride,” Meri gushed. “It’s fun. … Life is very good.”
Meri, who even speculated that Kody doesn’t miss her, is currently chronicling her newly single life on season 19 of TLC’s Sister Wives.
“It’s been fun to find my voice. Just kind of remember it was there,” Meri told Us of the latest batch of episodes. “I think [I felt] a little bit more free to say what I want and not have to worry about what other people think or making sure I’m working on relationships in the family. It’s like, ‘Listen, I’m ready to be me. Take me or leave me.’ [It’s been] very freeing.”
She continued, “I definitely am moving on. I guess I could say there was a time of mourning what I thought that it was going to be and hoped that it would be, but I look back at the moments that were good as good moments and just take them for what they were, and I’m just in a different place in my life.”
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
