Things really started taking a turn for the worst in Kody Brown and Christine Brown’s marriage on the Jan. 23 episode of Sister Wives, which was filmed at the beginning of 2021. Although Christine and Kody’s marriage had been struggling for quite some time, Christine made the major decision to move Kody’s things out of her house this week. Her choice came after he told her that he “wasn’t interested in having an intimate marriage” with her anymore.
“That’s not enough for me,” Christine explained. “I can’t not have an intimate marriage. He’s like, ‘People do it all the time. I know couples who don’t have intimate marriages.’ And that was it. I just went to bed alone. He stayed working in the morning and it was so awkward. He just went downstairs and made himself breakfast and left. I don’t know what to do. I have no interest in having a marriage that’s not intimate. He has an intimate marriage with other wives, but not me? I’m going to have nothing for the rest of my life. I’m heartbroken. My heart’s shattered, to be honest with you.”
The next time Kody came over to see the kids, Christine told him that she didn’t want him staying in her room anymore. Meanwhile, he blamed the issues in their relationship on her, and questioned whether her feelings about the marriage were just a “phase.” “She’s been telling wives and adult children that she’s wanted to leave me for years,” Kody claimed. “She tells me nothing special happens in our room, well that’s because she’s murdered our intimacy with betrayal. The betrayal is that I keep hearing from other people that she’s threatening to leave. I don’t feel intimate because I’ve been betrayed by constantly hearing this thing.” Still, Kody said he was “shocked and dumbfounded” that Christine finally took more drastic measures with him by kicking him out of the room.
After getting away for a few days to attend her daughter, Mykelti’s, baby shower, Christine came back and decided to clear Kody’s things out of the house. “It’s so heartbreaking to have his stuff everywhere and know that he doesn’t want me and he doesn’t love me,” Christine said, of her decision. “He says he’ll take care of me — but he’s not. He doesn’t. I promised myself on our last anniversary, when it ended so sad, I told myself I wouldn’t do it again.”
As she discussed the situation for the cameras, Christine broke down in tears. “What did I do so wrong?” she wondered. “I’ve always wanted a romantic marriage and it’s been so hard for so long. I feel like I don’t have a choice but to take his stuff out because it’s too heartbreaking to be around his stuff and too heartbreaking to be around him.” After moving Kody’s belongings to the garage, Christine was also more certain than ever that she wanted to move out of Flagstaff, where the whole family lives, in order to be around “people who want to be around [her and her kids].”
When Kody saw his things in the garage, he admitted to being “frustrated” by Christine because him moving out was not something they discussed. Still, he wasn’t sure whether it was just a passing phase. “I think I need to talk to her about how serious she is before I really decide how I feel,” he said. “Honestly, I’m thinking about it a little bit, and I’m not angry. it appears to be a game, but it might not be. I think I’m more afraid of what karmic value this has. The idea of a divorce seems tragic, it seems terrible on my faith and belief system. The first thought I have is, ‘This is my house, this is my stuff. We never discussed this.’ But the second thought I have is relief. Some kind of relief from the burden of a loveless marriage.”
The episode ended with Christine and Kody still in a bit of a limbo. However, as fans know, Christine officially separated from Kody by the fall of 2021, several months later.