Robyn Brown defended herself after Meri Brown teased her for making up the “rules” their polygamous family had for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic in a tense new Sister Wives sneak peek.
Kody, 52, and his four spouses, including Janelle and Christine Brown, gathered to discuss how they should proceed for the holidays when the topic arose.
“This isn’t how a family is. Families don’t social distance,” Christine, 49, told producers in the video obtained by Us Weekly on Wednesday, December 22, noting they should all revisit the subject. “We’re not being a family right now.”
While meeting up outside their Flagstaff, Arizona, property, Kody then addressed how he and Robyn, 43, created rules for their nanny before passing out a copy of them to each of his wives. “You know, those rules that you made up?” Meri said to Robyn with a laugh, before adding, “I’m just teasing!”
Robyn didn’t take kindly to the joke, telling the group, “I’m just gonna say it out loud. I know everybody’s suspicious of me. Please stop. Don’t be suspicious. Just realize that Kody has made these rules.”
Among his four wives, Kody has a combined total of 18 children, which they both said they wanted to keep in mind. Meri, 50, addressed how she was just trying to poke fun in a confessional, revealing she didn’t know it would be so “touchy” for Kody and Robyn.
“The fact that he [Kody] doesn’t get that I will defend Robyn all day, every day after a decade or more of knowing her is really sad — that he has absolutely no clue,” the Lizzie’s Heritage Inn owner continued.
Kody and Robyn said that Meri shouldn’t take their reaction personally, explaining they wanted to clear the air before it caused a further divide in the family. Robyn insisted that she had to “correct” some “misunderstandings” about her overseeing the social distancing rules.
When one of the kids called her to talk about it, Robyn said, “I very specifically pointed out that their dad, Kody, is not somebody to be run by one of his wives.”
On the December 5 episode, Christine opened up about their stressful family dynamic and admitted that she and Kody had been “struggling for a while.” The couple has since announced their split as season 16 episodes continue to air.
“He’s having one issue after another with them, and also, they’re not working with him on things, so he can’t go see him as much,” Robyn explained about the divide in their polygamous brood. “Because I’m sticking to what it is that he wants to do as far as COVID, I’m seeing him the most.”
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Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.