Grasping at straws! Sister Wives’ Kody Brown opened up about his season 17 call for “patriarchy” following Christine Brown’s announcement that she was leaving the family.
When fans watched Christine, 50, tell her fellow sister wives, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown, that she and Kody, 53, had split, the patriarch wasn’t “as sure” the breakout was final.
The Wyoming native revealed during part 1 of season 17’s Sister Wives: One-on-One special, which aired on Sunday, December 18, that the discussion led him to over-correct with the rest of the group.
“Christine was moving on. She’s smiling … that’s because she’s looking forward toward a future,” Kody told host Sukanya Krishnan. “I’m at that moment going, ‘I screwed this up. I should have been more patriarchal.’ That was a dumb idea I realize.”
The polygamist, who publicly confirmed his split with Christine in November 2021, noted that his desire for “patriarchy” during the family discussion, was brought about by his lack of control.
“In the moment, I’m sitting there going, ‘She wouldn’t be leaving and we wouldn’t have had all these issues in COVID, if I would have just been the head of my family,’” Kody explained on Sunday’s episode. “And yes, they all made the commitment to run their will to mine.”
He insisted that “Christine asked to be in the family. Janelle asked to be in the family” after he married first wife Meri, 51, in April 1990.
“Basically, I said, ‘If you want to be in the family, I need to you understand that you have to run your will to mine,’” Kody recalled of Christine and Janelle’s addition to the family in 1993 and 1994, respectively. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, pick me!’ I’m like, ‘OK, they’re compliant we can make this family situation work.’ In the end, it wasn’t ever like that.”
Meri gave insight into the early days of the Brown family’s agreement, telling Krishnan, 51, “When I married Kody, I totally looked at him as the head of our family.”
The California native, who shares child Leon, 27, with Kody, revealed that she “absolutely” still looks at him that way. “I also [think] I’m a strong independent woman and I can do whatever I want,” Meri said, adding she’s asked her partner on multiple occasions, “Are you going to support me in that as well?” (Elsewhere in the episode, Meri confirmed her split from Kody after he revealed during season 17 that she didn’t “consider” them married.)
Janelle, meanwhile, was vocal with her partner about his change of power both at the time of the family discussion in 2021 and on the tell-all.
“Now all of a sudden this is his tune. Like, ‘I’m going to be the head of my household [and] if you don’t agree with me then you’re not going to be around me,’” the 53-year-old reality star told viewers on Sunday, claiming, “He’s been making some noise, even last year. He’s like, ‘Look, plural marriage is standing in the way of my personal progress.’ He said that to us one time. Maybe he wants it to be simpler.”
Janelle — who shares children Logan, 28, Maddie, 27, Hunter, 25, Garrison, 24, Gabriel, 21, and Savanah, 18, with the TV personality — explained that she never agreed to a patriarchy.
“We were going to work together as a team to raise this family. That was really our main goal,” she recalled. “There wasn’t conversations like this, ‘Well, I’ll be in charge.’”
The Utah native pointed out that over the “last few years, it felt like Kody wanted his life to look more like that.” Janelle added that fourth wife Robyn, 43, “looks like” she is “willing to live that way,” but that’s not something she wants.
Janelle, who confirmed in December that she and Kody had been “separated for several months” after nearly 30 years of marriage, quipped: “It feels like it would be nice if I had a husband that would see my perspective as much as he seems to see Robyn’s.”
Part 2 of Sister Wives: One-on-One airs on TLC Sunday, January 1, at 10 p.m. ET.
Scroll down for the biggest revelations from Part 1 of Sister Wives: One-on-One special: