‘Sister Wives’ Trailer Shows Christine Brown Leaving Husband Kody Brown
The upcoming season of "Sister Wives" might actually be the most dramatic one yet.
The new trailer for the TLC reality show, which follows Kody Brown and his polygamous arrangement with multiple women in Utah, shows trouble in paradise for one of the couples.
Those who follow the cast of "Sister Wives" off-camera may have seen this coming. Christine Brown entered a plural marriage with Kody in 1994, and became the third of his four wives.
Together, Kody shares 18 children with Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown. While he’s currently legally married to Robyn, Kody considers himself spiritually married to his wives, per People.
After 25 years with Kody, Christine announced her divorce in Nov. 2021 on Instagram.
“After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave,” the TLC star said in a statement posted to her page. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family. At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness as we navigate through this stage within our family.”
The Season 16 finale, which aired in Feb. 2022, ended with Christine's consideration of ending her relationship with Kody, per Business Insider's recap of the episode.
Trouble arose after Kody proposed a "romance-free" marriage, and Christine, in turn, kicked him out of her bedroom. “The intimate part of our marriage is over. And to be honest, I’m not okay with that. I’m not okay with staying in a marriage where there’s no intimacy. That’s not a real marriage. I’m not interested in a half marriage or a partial marriage or whatever we have,” Christine said in the Season 16 “Sister Wives" finale.
“She’s like, ‘My room is a special place for me and nothing special happens there for us,” Kody said in a confessional.
Based on the trailer, this season of "Sister Wives," out Sept. 2022, will show the fallout of Christine's decision to ultimately leave Kody, which she told People "tore (her) apart."
At the beginning of the two-minute clip, Robyn Brown reveals that there are some "strange things" happening between Kody and Christine and that she's "supposed to stay out of it."
Next, we see footage of Christine venting about her relationship during a behind-the-scenes solo interview.
"I feel like to Kody, Robyn’s more important," she says. In a follow-up conversation between the couple, Christine tells Kody it's been "heartbreaking" being his wife.
The trailer chronicles the relationship drama and shows the effect it has on Kody's other wives, Janelle, Robyn, and Meri, who has also had her share of televised relationship drama with Kody.
Christine, who has six children with Kody, then makes a big revelation."I have decided to leave. I'm going to leave Kody," she says.
The other wives seem shaken up by the announcement. Robyn asserts that she's "not ready for Christine to leave." Meanwhile, Meri laments her departure, saying that she considered her to be "more than a sister wife" and thought of her as a friend.
While explaining her decision to leave the family, Christine shares the following statement: "I agreed to be a sister wife, but I agreed to be an equal wife."
Kody also expresses his frustration and seems to criticize Christine during a family meeting.
"You never tried to have a really good relationship with these other people, and that's the reason I'm p---ed off," he said. "It’s just a knife in the kidney, after all the years, the sacrifices I made to love you.”
Kody later said his "heart is broken."
The trailer also hints at some relationship struggles between Kody and Janelle, who says "he's no longer acting as my husband," in one clip. "I'm not really sure we have a family anymore," she says later on.
At the end of the trailer, Kody suggests that the show, which is in its 17th season, has taken an unexpected turn.
"The message that we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now," he says.
Season 17 of “Sister Wives” premieres on TLC on Sept. 11 at 10 p.m. ET.
