When Meri and Kody Brown tied the knot in 1990, she thought nothing could unravel their marriage.
"In our religious background and when he and I got married, we married with the intention of forever," the Sister Wives star explained in a sneak peek for the Oct. 29 episode shared exclusively with E! News. Their bond, as she put it in the confessional, "literally was an eternal covenant."
But as viewers learned over these past few seasons, their love wasn't so timeless.
Recalling the moment she knew their marriage was over, Meri said Kody told her, "'Well, I'm just not interested. You can stick around if you want.'"
Needless to say, that proposal didn't sit well with her. "'Why would I want to do that eternally?'" the 52-year-old wondered. "Be with somebody who really just has changed his mind about me."
Meri said Kody also told her she could stay and visit him, his remaining wife Robyn Brown and their five kids. And while she said she feels like she's "always had a pretty good relationship with Robyn" and loves her children—adding she had "every intention to still keep a good relationship" with Dayton, 23, Aurora, 21, Breanna 18, Solomon, 12, and Ariella, 7, if Robyn and Kody allowed—she knew she had to move on.
So, Meri suggested that she and Kody be upfront with fans about where they stood.
"I said to him, because our life is public, 'Why don't we just be real open and honest about this?' That we should discuss this and that we should really be open about our story with this." she added. "And he said, 'No, I don't want to do that.' He said, 'I just have so much criticism I don't want to be open and vocal about it. Let's just keep this between us.'"
But the TLC celeb suggested she didn't want to cover up what was happening.
"I'm not gonna go the rest of my life hiding the fact that this is the way that our relationship is and hiding the fact that you said to me you don't wanna ever have a relationship with me," she added. "This is my story too, and I have the right to tell my story."
Of course, Meri had the chance to tell her story on the December Sister Wives: One on One special with Kody, Robyn and fellow sister wives Janelle Brown and Christine Brown, including her reaction to the Brown patriarch admitting he didn't consider himself married to Meri anymore.
The following month, Meri and Kody—who divorced in 2014 so he could legally wed Robyn and adopt her kids from a previous relationship, but still considered themselves spiritually married—announced their decision to "permanently terminate" their union.
The split came shortly after Janelle confirmed her separation from Kody and more than a year after Christine announced her breakup with him, resulting in Robyn being the sole wife.
As Christine put it in the Oct. 22 episode, "I think he's just a monogamist now."
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on TLC. For a recap on the stars' love lives, keep reading.
Meri Brown
In January 2024, a year after she and Kody Brown announced their breakup, Meri revealed on Instagram that she had begun dating Amos Andrews the previous October. But in February 2024, Meri confirmed on Instagram that they had called it quits.
"She looked like a soccer mom," Kody Brown once joked on Sister Wives of meeting then-single mom Robyn in 2009. "She had a van, three kids and was divorced. I thought, 'I didn't need a van, a divorced woman, and three kids in my life—that's just trouble.'"
Nearly a decade and a half on, though, they're still kicking it, the pair adding son Solomon, 12, and daughter Ariella, 7, to the squad. As for bringing on other teammates, it's not in the game plan. "I really, really struggle with it because it feels, like, 'Oh, well. Those didn't work. So, on to [someone] new,'" Robyn said on the December Sister Wives: One on One special of Meri, Janelle and Christine leaving the fold. "That's hard for me. That's really, really hard for me. It feels disrespectful."
She got the man and the family. Going official with her and David Woolley's romance on Valentine's Day 2023, Christine Brown shared, "I finally found the love of my life, David. The first time he held me close, it felt like my soul took its first breath. He's wonderful and kind, incredible with my children and an adorable grandpa. I never dreamed I could find a love like this."
Two months later he added to the fantasy with a spring proposal. "David treats me like a queen and tells me I'm beautiful everyday," Christine told People. "I've never been in love like this before and the world seems like a brighter place with him in it."
Tying the knot in Utah Oct. 7, she wrote, "I'm so blessed! I've married my best friend."
The first of the 18 Brown children to walk down the aisle, Janelle's eldest daughter, Madison Brown, now 28, wed Caleb Brush at a 2016 outdoor wedding in Montana captured by TLC's cameras. Nearly seven years later, the two have multiplied their love with Josephine joining big brother Axel, 6, and big sister Evie, 4, in February.
"One month as a family of 5 and my heart is bursting," North Carolina-based Maddie wrote on Instagram in March. "I didn't know this kind of peace amongst chaos could be had."
Four years after their engagement aired on the TLC reality show, Meri Brown's only child, Leon Brown, has settled in Denver with partner Audrey Kriss. "my sweetest symphony," Leon, 28, raved of their fiancé. "Life with you truly is so sweet." Echoed Audrey, "Being your partner and watching your growth and coming into yourself over the years has been an honor and joy."
Eldest kid Logan Brown, 29, got the gang back together when he married longtime girlfriend Michelle Petty in Arizona this past October. "It was a beautiful day and this mama's heart was mush the whole time," Janelle shared on Instagram of her son's wedding. "You always have such a sense of peace when your children find amazing life partners."
More than six years after her 2016 wedding to Antonio "Tony" Padron, Mykelti Brown joked that they'd already tested the limits of their marriage vows by welcoming twins Archer and Ace into the fold in November 2022.
"We have 3 kids and 4 moves under our belt," noted the 27-year-old, also mom to Avalon, 2. "A whole lot of good times and some hard times #surprisetwins But here we are still doing this whole marriage thing."
In the five years since they wed, Christine's daughter Aspyn Brown, 28, and husband Mitch Thompson have traveled everywhere from Paris to Alaska. But last December, they put down roots, Mitch sharing on Instagram, "We bought our first home! Just in time for Christmas."
Before hitting their one-year anniversary, Christine's daughter Gwendlyn Brown and love Beatriz Queiroz went to the happiest place on earth and marked six months together with chocolate fondue. Then came the really sweet part. The 22-year-old shared a glimpse at the candlelit, rose-filled proposal on Instagram in November 2022, writing simply, "i'm engaged!!"
The couple wed in July, sharing the news on Instagram the caption: "Say hello to mrs (x2) queiroz."