Me time! Christine Brown leaned on her loved ones — and celebrated herself — on her first Valentine’s Day since splitting from husband Kody Brown.
“HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!” the 49-year-old reality star wrote via Instagram on Monday, February 14, alongside a solo snap. The Sister Wives star reminded her followers to “take a break from this crazy world and focus on family today!”
The TLC personality, who was all smiles while wearing an orange sweatsuit and a floral jacket, added the hashtags: “#valentines #valentinesday #focus.”
Christine’s empowering message came three months after she announced that she and Kody, 53, had parted ways.
“After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave,” Christine wrote via Instagram in November 2021. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family.”
The Utah native spiritually married Kody in March 1994, becoming his third wife. He legally wed Meri Brown in 1990 and spiritually tied the knot with Janelle Brown in 1993. Kody later divorced Meri, 51, to legally marry Robyn Brown in 2014 and adopt her three children from a previous relationship. He remains spiritually involved with his first wife.
“Christine’s decision to leave comes with a great deal of sadness. We enjoyed many years together and I have a large amount of respect and admiration for her,” Kody wrote in his own statement addressing his and Christine’s breakup at the time. “Although we are moving forward on different paths, we will always remain committed parents.”
Fans of the TLC series, which follows the polygamist lifestyle of the Brown family, saw Christine and Kody’s relationship hit a breaking point during the season 15 finale, which aired in April 2021. Their rocky romance continued to play out on season 16.
The estranged spouses — who share son Paedon, 23 and daughters Aspyn, 26, Mykelti, 25, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 18, and Truely, 11 — discussed where they stand now during the three-part Sister Wives: One on One tell-all special, which began airing last month.
“It’s not fun breaking people’s hearts. At my core, I just want people to be happy,” Christine said during the February 6 episode, referring to the hardship of distancing herself from the family post-split. “It tore me apart. It was super, super sad. Kody and I are divorced. We’re completely separate.”
However, when it comes to their religious ties, Christine and Kody are still spiritually married — a situation that Kody doesn’t plan on changing anytime soon.
“Kody wouldn’t go through with a ‘spiritual divorce’ from Christine,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month. “He left her on her own to make peace with the separation — it was her and God, not her and Kody.”
The Wyoming native hasn’t had a “formal ceremony at a church” to signify the end of his and Christine’s spiritual union. “He wouldn’t give Christine — or any of his other wives for that matter — the courtesy of going along with [a formal ceremony] since he feels betrayed,” the insider said, adding that the patriarch has “become more angry and bitter” recently.
Christine, for her part, doesn’t agree with the institution’s views about her personal life.
“In our church, polygamous women can leave. They are not trapped. I haven’t been a member of that church for a long time, I left a long time ago,” she said during the February tell-all special. “I don’t really care. I think that God’s fine if I just want to be happy.”