Sister Wives ' Christine Brown Says She's Done Sharing a Husband: 'I Will Be a Monogamist from Here on Out'
Sister Wives' Christine Brown spent 26 years in a plural marriage, but the TLC star says she's no longer interested in living a polygamous lifestyle.
Last November, Christine announced on Instagram she was ending her spiritual marriage to husband Kody Brown — a decision that didn't come easy. Growing up with her father Rex, his two wives (including her biological mother Ruthann, a.k.a. Annie) and her 10 siblings, Christine tells PEOPLE: "I had an ideal childhood. I was raised with so much love."
As she grew older, "I only ever wanted a polygamous marriage."
RELATED: Everything Sister Wives Star Christine Brown Has Said About Her Relationship Issues with Ex Kody
Christine, 50, married Kody Brown, now 53, in 1994 and moved into the tiny home in Lovell, Wyoming, that he shared with his first and second wives, Meri and Janelle. A fourth wife, Robyn, would join in 2010.
Kim Raff Christine Brown
At first, the plural relationship worked. "Meri and Janelle weren't enemies, but they didn't really get along. Then I came in and evened it all out," she says.
Kody split his time between the three women as they shared parenting duties, bills, chores and friends. "It was crowded, but we had so much fun together," says Christine, who welcomed son Paedon, 24, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12, with Kody between between 1995 and 2010. (Kody has a total of 18 children between the women).
As the years passed, though, their marriage began to break down. "I needed more communication, more trust, and I realized we didn't really have a partnership," she explains. "We just kind of unraveled."
Bryant Livingston/TLC/Everett Kody Brown (center), surrounded by Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown
RELATED: Christine Brown Moves Out of Kody Brown's House in Sister Wives' Dramatic Season 17 Trailer
Nearly a year after Christine made the choice to leave her marriage and her fundamentalist Mormon faith. Now, she's starting over in Salt Lake City, Utah. "I get to live life for me," says Christine, who launched her solo TLC digital series, Cooking with Just Christine, in February. (Season 2 premieres Sept. 11).
While she isn't dating just yet, she is open to the idea in the future.
"I want a partnership. I want a guy who actually loves me and wants to be with me intimately," she says. "The attraction needs to be there. There needs to be a mutual chemistry. But I love the idea of a romantic relationship, eventually. Adventurous would be great. Someone who just wants to try new things because now I'm into trying new things all the time. I just want to have fun all the time."
Kim Raff Christine Brown
One thing she isn't willing to budge on: other wives.
"I will be a monogamist from here on out. Polygamy is not for me anymore. People can do it, it's fine. Live your life, but no, no, not me."
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Season 17 of Sister Wives premieres Sept. 11 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
