Kody Brown used to be known as the controversial polygamist with four wives and 18 children. However, as his first three wives have decided to leave him, the patriarch is left with only one wife, Robyn Brown, who was the last to join the plural family.
Kody and Robyn’s relationship has been the seeming cause of a lot of trouble throughout the years, since their very beginnings. Some of the Brown family members have previously shared that they feel Robyn and her children perpetually get more of Kody’s time and attention, while the “Sister Wives” fans have accused the fourth wife of wanting a monogamous marriage with Kody.
Robyn has, however, made it clear she only wants a polygamous lifestyle with Kody and that she could’ve been in a monogamous relationship had she wanted to. Her other romantic proposals are what shook Kody to his core at the time, making him propose to her even though he wasn’t ready.
Kody Brown rushed to get ahead of another man
After courting his then-to-be fourth wife, Kody Brown ran into an unexpected obstacle — somebody else also wanted Robyn Brown to join their family. According to the Brown family memoir, “Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage,” Robyn didn’t feel it was right to move on too quickly after divorcing her first spouse, David Jessop, in 2007. “Even though I had legitimate grounds for divorce from my first husband, a failed marriage still tarnished my reputation,” she shared, as per Cheat Sheet.
Her mother, Alice Sullivan, encouraged her to explore her options, so Robyn decided to attend a dance, but only to chaperone her younger siblings. “Everybody knew my story. I had been married to the son of a very prominent family, so my dirty laundry was public knowledge. It made me uncomfortable,” Robyn stated. However, she lucked out at the function and met a potential love interest, which freaked Kody out.
In his portion of the memoir, Kody shared that he wanted to propose to Robyn on her birthday, but a few days before the date, he found out another man wanted to court her. “[Robyn] told me that an older and esteemed man in our faith had called to inquire about courting her. This was a shock to my system,” the patriarch wrote. Despite not having the means to support a fourth wife, Kody asked Robyn to marry him ahead of time, and the two spiritually tied the knot in 2010.
From the very beginning, Kody Brown acted differently with Robyn Brown
While Kody Brown jumped the gun by proposing to Robyn Brown earlier than he had intended, that’s not what caused drama in the plural family. According to Radar Online, Kody’s then-third wife, Christine Brown, was brokenhearted when she found out he kissed Robyn before the two married. “It was devastating,” Christine shared in one of the show’s earlier episodes, explaining, “We didn’t kiss until over the altar because I didn’t feel right about kissing a married man.”
Robyn was visibly remorseful over the entire ordeal, while Kody stayed silent. “I got really upset because I knew I’d hurt you,” Robyn said to her sister wife with teary eyes, adding, “I didn’t know it would break my heart, as well.”
Kody and Robyn’s marriage took a toll on another sister wife, as well. Meri Brown, the patriarch’s first and, at the time, only legal wife, had a hard time dealing with the fact that Kody was spending more time with Robyn than with his other wives. “Kody’s been dividing his time fairly between the first three wives for 16 years, and now he’s spending whole weekends with Robyn,” a source close to the family revealed to OK! Magazine. “They are hurting. First wife Meri most of all. She’s a wreck.” Years later, the claim that Robyn is Kody’s favorite wife makes more sense than ever.
