'Sister Wives' Fans Question Why Meri Brown Stays With Kody Amid Disrespect

Sister Wives fans have questioned why Meri Brown stays in a relationship with partner Kody after the TLC show returned for its 17th season.

Meri, 51, and Kody, 53, are in a plural marriage with Robyn and Janelle Brown, and Kody was also in a relationship with another woman, Christine, who left him in 2021.

Only about 2 percent of the global population lives in polygamous households, and in the vast majority of countries, that share is under 0.5 percent, according to a Pew Research Center report from 2019.

Meri and Kody, who married in 1990, have been open about how things have changed in recent years, but now, after scenes shown in the premiere of the reality show Sister Wives, viewers have questioned why Meri has stayed with him.

While Meri and Kody have remained "spiritually married," they are no longer legally husband and wife. Kody divorced Meri so he could legally marry Robyn, 43, in 2014 and adopt her children from a previous relationship.

Meri and Kody have also said that there has not been any intimacy between them for more than a decade.

Despite their issues, Meri remains with Kody and lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, with him, Robyn, Janelle, and their children. Christine has moved back to Utah following her own split with Kody.

Reddit user probzhyperboleIf started the discussion about Meri after he posted a comment about Brown family patriarch Kody that read: "If Kody is this much of a raging narcissist in his self-recorded footage, can you imagine how nasty he must be in private? I can only imagine what Christine and Meri have been through."

Emptyhellebore then commented: "Meri has always looked like she was shamed into thinking she was a terrible person who had to stay from my perspective. What I've seen from last season and this first episode of this season has not changed my mind."

"I think Meri 100% believed what he was telling her and don't forget, the whole family sorta jumped on that train. Meri lost all credibility and dignity after the whole catfish debacle. She may have done a lot to herself but to me she seemed to be a broken person who lacked the resiliency to climb out intact," Betts78 added.

The "catfish debacle" refers to an incident on Sister Wives that saw Meri tricked into believing she was talking to a man named Sam Cooper.

It was later revealed that she had actually been talking to a woman posing as the man, and the situation appeared to put a strain on her and Kody's relationship.

Illpunchyourknee also wrote on the Reddit thread about Meri and Kody: "It's very clear to me now why Meri is still defending Robyn and showering her and her kids with love. According to Kody, that's the only way to receive kindness from him.

"I wonder how long it will be before she realizes that no matter how many of his rules she follows, he has no intention of loving her," the Redditor wrote.

Meri has given the reasons why she has not left Kody, with whom she shares a child, Leon, who came out as transgender in June and uses they/them pronouns.

During the season 16 Sister Wives reunion that aired earlier in 2022, host Sukanya Krishnan, 51, asked Meri why she has stayed in her marriage.

Meri said: "This is my family, like I don't understand people who think, 'Well just because you don't have this relationship with Kody, why don't you just leave?' Because I don't want to.

"It doesn't make sense to me when people ask me that all the time."

Sister Wives season 17 continues Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.