Is Meri Leaving 'Sister Wives'? She and Kody Say They Are "No Longer Dating"

For years now, fans of Sister Wives have been eyeing Meri Brown and basically taking bets on when she'll finally ditch the polygamist lifestyle. It's pretty darn obvious that Kody's first wife is totally over their relationship — along with all of the drama that comes with having sister wives. From the outside looking in, it seems both she and Kody are ready to move on. This had caused viewers to wonder: Is Meri leaving Sister Wives?

As a refresher, Kody and Meri tied the knot back in 1990 when she was only 19. Just a few short years later, they welcomed Janelle and Christine into their marriage — eventually followed by Robyn in 2010. Kody and his four wives have a total of 18 children together at this point. But could Meri be leaving the TLC series soon? Let's take a look at the evidence at hand.

Despite their previous attempts at reconciliation in marriage counseling, recent episodes of Sister Wives suggest that Kody and Meri's relationship has reached the point of no return. Last season, Meri expressed that her relationship with Kody was dead and gone, but it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic put the final nail in the coffin. 

Meri said that because she and her fellow Sister Wives have been forced to self-isolate in their own homes, her relationship with Kody has become even more estranged.

In a confessional, she shared, "I'm really careful about pushing Kody because I don't want him to feel like I'm being demanding or pushy or anything like that. You know, I don't know what Kody is going to be doing after the two-week quarantine. I don't know what his plans are — I can't speak to that, honestly."

Meri added, "But he basically is just going to be going between Janelle and Christine and Robyn — that's typically what he does. Just calling it like it is."

Kody also spoke on his relationship with Meri, suggesting that the distance between them was mutual. "There's just been nothing going on between me and Meri. She interacts with the family for the holidays and the birthdays, we get together once in a while, I see Meri once in a blue moon, but we quit dating and that's just probably because I quit calling her to say, 'Let's go do something.'"

Clearly, some serious issues are going on. But is it enough for Meri to quit Sisters Wives for good? We're not so sure.

You might recall that Meri and Kody legally divorced back in 2014. But it wasn't because they were ending their relationship. The legal separation happened so that Robyn could legally marry Kody in December 2014 — and ultimately so Kody could legally adopt her three children from a previous relationship, Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna. (And Kody did.)

Still, the transition wasn't an easy one. "If ever I'm having an emotional moment about maybe what I've lost, I just think it's not about me," Meri shared on Sister Wives at the time. "It's about the kids. And that's what makes me happy."

The fact that Meri got caught up in a catfishing scandal in 2015 didn't exactly help her relationship with Kody and the rest of her family. To make a long story short, Meri was tricked into falling in love with a man named Sam — who she thought was a 40-something businessman she met online. In reality, "Sam" was a woman named Jackie. What's worse is that Jackie retaliated when Meri broke things off between them by posting private voicemails and sexts Meri had sent. Yikes.

"This catfish was just planting things in my head and telling me how horrible my family was and specifically how horrible Kody was,” Meri said on the TLC series. “That was one of the reasons why I didn’t want him around. I was just angry. I’m just angry at him. I just pushed Kody away. I did. He’s not the one I should’ve pushed away.”

Things between Meri and Kody have been pretty up and down ever since — to the point that fans think it would be best if Meri embarked on her own life away from Kody and her sister wives.

Even if Meri and Kody end up calling it quits — which could very well be in the cards at this point — Meri could theoretically continue appearing on Sister Wives. You have to admit: It would be fascinating watching a former polygamist navigating life as a single woman. Would she end up in a monogamist relationship? Would she continue to be a bad--s businesswoman? The possibilities are endless.

Hopefully — regardless of what happens with her relationship with Kody — Meri remains on the show for quite some time. Because fans are deeply invested in her story at this point, and they want to watch her find happiness and success.

Catch Sister Wives Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.