Meri Brown is opening up about her struggles with jealousy during her plural marriage to Kody Brown, which is documented in TLC‘s hit show Sister Wives.
“I’m human. I’m going to get jealous. He’s human. He is going to not know how to deal with a woman’s jealousy,” she told People. “Anytime that you expand your family, there’s going to be a shift,” she said. “You’ve got just the logistical things, but then you’ve also got the emotional things.” Meri Brown was Kody Brown’s first of four wives and was joined in the family by Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown. However, in the last couple of years, three of his four wives separated from the TLC star, who is now in a monogamous relationship with Robyn Brown.
Meri Brown split from her husband in Jan. 2023 after a 32-year marriage. “When you’re 20, 21, 25, 30, whatever, when this is happening, you’re not grown up enough,” she explained. “You think you are, but you’re really not grown up enough sometimes. Or maybe it’s more not that you’re grown up enough, but more that you just don’t have the tools in your tool belt to know how to deal with some of these issues.”
She explained to the publication that the Mormon church explained jealousy as something that should be hidden away and she should “deal with it.” She added that she felt there was something “wrong” with her for feeling jealous. However, she said she’s since learned that jealousy is a useful thing that can guide someone and isn’t a sign that she’s a bad person. “I remember Kody would ask me, ‘If you’re okay with them coming into the family, why are you jealous? Why are you having a hard time?’” she shared. “Well, one, I’m human. Two, I didn’t understand that it’s okay to be jealous. I thought I was a bad person for having those emotions.”
Meri Brown acknowledged that the breaking up of three of four of Kody Brown’s marriages and the family split has been sad, but she’s happy that there are still connections in the family. “I’m really, really, really glad of the connections that I still have within the family, and I’m glad for the people who do have connections with each other,” she explained. “Just because we’re one family, doesn’t mean we all have to have the same relationship with everybody.”
Meri Brown will be appearing on season 18 of Sister Wives, which premieres on TLC on Aug. 20. The season will detail her and Janelle Brown’s split from their husband. The trailer for the season showed Kody Brown struggling to come to grips with the ending of his relationships. As viewers will recall, the 17th season covered the intense breakup of Kody Brown and Christine Brown’s marriage and their struggle to adjust to their new family life. Christine Brown has since moved on and is now happily engaged to David Woolley.