‘Sister Wives’ Kody Brown Has Four Wives, but Fans Think He Only Loves One of Them

Kody and Meri: The Fractured Relationship

Out of all of his wives, Kody's relationship with his first wife is the most…dramatic. The two first got married in 1990 and share one daughter together, Mariah. As the "OG" of the sister wives pack, Meri had to deal with the awkward jealousy of seeing new wives added to her family. Although she was born into a polygamist family and knew what she was signing up for, the reality was a lot different than what she was expecting.

In 2014, after she and Kody got a divorce so that he could marry fourth wife Robyn and adopt her kids, Meri felt an emotional separation from her husband. "It's the end of something that we had had, in a way, for 24 and a half years," she said on the show.

A year later, Meri began an online relationship with a man named "Sam" who turned out to be a woman. Kody was upset when he found out about it, and even admitted on the show that he no longer wanted to be intimate with Meri. "I just feel like I've spent a lot of years not knowing where we were," Meri told Kody in an episode. "You know both of us have been avoiding any sort of anything with our relationship."

Although the two are currently trying to make it work, many fans think the relationship is kaput and that Meri is already planning her escape. "Kody said his marriage with Meri wouldn't have lasted ten years if it was monogamous, so I think he's been emotionally done with the relationship for years," a fan wrote. "His total lack of romantic or platonic interest in Meri is why he's not working to fix it."

Kody and Janelle: The Platonic Relationship

When Janelle joined the "spiritual union" in 1993, she was already Meri and Kody's friend. Meri later said this friendship was what kept her from feeling jealous of the second wife. "Janelle's relationship with Kody, although they loved each other, it wasn't romantic," Meri said in 2012. "So it was easier for me to accept."

Unlike the other wives, Janelle is career-focused, logical, and appears to enjoy the practical perks of being a sister wife rather than the romantic or spiritual ones. Robyn's former close friend, Kendra Pollard-Parra, admitted that Kody and Janelle are more like pals than a married couple. "Kody thinks of Janelle as more of a friend — she’s his buddy," she told In Touch Weekly.

Fans have noticed the dynamic, too. "I think Janelle is just a very independent person who doesn't really want or need a full-time husband," a fan observed about their relationship. "I think Janelle would go crazy if she was Kody's only wife."

Kody and Christine: The "One-Sided" Relationship

Christine first met Kody and Meri in 1990 and "fell in love" with them at first sight. Because she was raised in a polygamist family, she knew she wanted to be a sister wife, but she didn't want to be wife No. 2. Once she heard Janelle had spiritually joined the family, she rushed at the chance to be wife No. 3. "Kody has goo-goo eyes and when he looks at you, they sparkle," she explained during a tell-all episode. “When he turns those eyes on you, you’re the most important woman in the world. All other girls don’t compare. You are it!"

Although Christine was attracted to her husband, it took Kody a bit more time to feel those romantic feelings. "I was not attracted to Christine in any kind of physical sense," he shockingly revealed in a tell-all episode. "I mean I look back in retrospect and I wonder if that was fair. But I can't even look there because we have children together, we have a life together, we have a relationship, and we found our sweet spot."

Once the couple found their "sweet spot," it was enough to make Wife No. 1 jealous. "His [relationship] with Christine I perceived as much more romantic and he cared about her much more," Meri said in 2012. "So I felt threatened."

Kody and Christine went on to have six kids together, but when fourth wife Robyn joined the fam, Christine was extremely jealous. "What I get jealous about most is time and where he spends his time," she said in a tell-all interview. "That's what it comes down most with me."

Although she's the fan-favorite sister wife, she often struggles to get Kody's attention. She also expressed in episodes to not "having a voice" in the relationship.

Kody and Robyn: The Bonafide Relationship

Robyn joined the family during the first season of Sister Wives as the fourth wife, which caused a lot of friction amongst the wives, particularly with Christine who was jealous. Although Kody has the most chemistry with his newest wife, he initially wasn't attracted to her either. "She looked like a soccer mom," he recalled on the show. "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.” However, after tying the knot legally, the two are now the closest couple on the show, according to reports.

Fans have picked up on Kody and Robyn's closeness, too. "She's definitely the favored wife," a fan wrote. "I feel like he’s basically just friends with Christine and Janelle, but actually in a marriage with Robyn," another added.

Janelle and Meri: The "Frenemy" Relationship

Although during the show's early seasons the wives pretended that they all got along, it was later revealed in their book Becoming Sister Wives that Meri and Janelle were feuding for years. Janelle described feeling unwelcome by Meri and described her fellow sister wife as "frosty" and "overbearing." When Janelle had Kody's first child, Meri became "harsh and furious."

Their relationship is so bad, the two couldn't even ride in the same car together. On the show, the two have been attending counseling to work on their issues, but things are still far from perfect.

Meri, Robyn, Christine, and Janelle: The "Good Acquaintances" Relationship

Although the wives love talking about how great having a sister wife is, the reality is that they actually aren't that close. The wives all live in separate houses on a cul-de-sac and are only together when Kody is around. “It’s worse than ever. The family is arguing constantly," Kendra said. “They pretend to be happy for the show, but the family is a mess."

Fans have picked up on it as well. "My problem with the Brown sister wives is that most of the time they seem to not really like each other or hang out," a fan wrote. "These are supposed to be your sisters, your best friends."

However, it appears weird, complex relationships are something they’ll always have in common.