Sister Wives’ Kody Brown refuses to have ‘sexual relationship’ with first wife Meri without ‘spark’

They endured a catfishing scandal in 2015 as Meri Brown was deceived by a female admirer posing as a man online.

And six years after the controversy, husband Kody Brown is still finding it hard to get intimate with his first wife.

During a confessional on Sunday night’s episode of Sister Wives, the 52-year-old television personality detailed his troubled marriage with the 50-year-old.

‘Meri and I had problems like this long before [sister wife] Janelle even came into the family,’ according to People magazine. ‘But the catfishing [scandal] was what really woke us up to the state of our situation.’ 

She was embroiled in a scandal in 2015 as she was catfished by a female admirer who posed as a man online which effectively strained the marriage.

The couple then entered therapy to deal with the fallout of the scandal but Kody ended up revealing that he no longer wanted to have a ‘sexual relationship with her.’ 

He said: ‘We went a couple of years, a lot of counseling, figuring things out, and as we went through this process, I’m looking for a spark – something to initiate some form of desire for a relationship with each other,” said Brown “And in this time, it has never manifest.’

Kody told his first wife that he didn’t think that they had missed each other as their families have lived apart in four separate homes in Arizona amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meri vehemently disagreed as she said: ‘Speak for yourself. I do have a strong draw to you, but I do not act on that because I know how you feel. I can’t make you care for me. I can’t change that.’

She went on to say in her confessional that she has tried initiating physical romance with Kody but it had not been reciprocated. 

Meri said: ‘He has said to me, “You just need to make it known. You need to flirt with me.” And so I try those things and he backs off more, so I back off more. I was like, “Oh, that didn’t work. That was uncomfortable.” You know? 

‘But at the same time, like, I want to keep putting myself out there because this is what I want. I’m not giving up. I’m not walking away.’

Kody said that he didn’t feel like Meri was ‘courting’ him before backtracking and saying that he wasn’t suggesting that he wanted to be chased.

He explained: ‘In fact, that could be off-putting. But there has to be more magic in this than what we have. She’s not making any effort. I’m not making any effort. Where do you think that puts us? 

She was to be loved romantically – then there has to be a spark for that. And then she’ll get from that, she will receive romance, love and a full marriage and sexual relationship.’

Meri maintained that she has been trying to mend the relationship but Kody has been disinterested.

Regardless of the hard feelings on each side, divorce is not on the table as Kody said ‘there’s always a chance’ they could come back in the future.

He explained: ‘My discussion with Meri right now isn’t about me telling Meri that she has to have a divorce with me, that she has to leave. I’m not doing that — I will never do that.

‘My faith doesn’t allow me to, my conscience doesn’t allow me to. And because I haven’t done that, there’s always a chance that we might actually get back together into full fellowship.’

The two met later on as Meri attempted to flirt with Kody on their anniversary but it was not reciprocated.

Kody said in a confessional: ‘Meri and I are in a marriage, but we don’t want to be part of a hookup culture, okay? Romance and sex are saved — in my world — for people who are in love.’

They continued to talk about their relationship including Kody opening up about his struggles in his maintaining his four marriages before Meri said she was ‘so tempted to kiss’ her husband just to see how he would ‘react.’

The two exchanged a playful back and forth, however, the anniversary outing together ended without a kiss and just exchanged ‘happy anniversary’ declarations instead. 

There has been plenty of drama between the two as in a recent episode Kody revealed that he only sees Meri ‘once in a blue moon,’ while she insisted that she is not giving up. 

Sunday night’s episode of TLC’s hit reality show revealed Kody had been primarily spending his time at the homes of his other three wives – Christine, Janelle and Robyn, amid the COVID-19  pandemic.

The 50-year-old Meri acknowledged to People that their relationship is not in the best place, but she’s still not ready to call it quits.

‘I think that all relationships, you know, have issues that they have to work through. And I think that’s just kind of where we’re at right now,’ Meri said.

‘For me personally, I’m not one that’s going to give up. I’m just going to keep at it, you know? Ebb and flows in the relationship … I think that’s just kind of normal,’ she added.

She added that the couple, who were married back in 1990, are, ‘in a place where we’re just figuring out where we are and, you know, what is happening.’

Meri also added that the sister wives were staying at their respective homes in Flagstaff, Arizona, while Kody was the only one moving between all four homes.

‘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,’ she said.

Meri was the first of the four wives, tying the knot in 1990, before they welcomed Janelle in 1993, Christine in 1994 and Robyn in 2010.

Kody and Meri were legally divorced in 2014, so Kodi could marry Robyn and give her three children from a previous marriage access to his insurance and other benefits Kody’s 18 other children have with all four of his wives.

While Kody and Robyn’s marriage is the only one considered to be a ‘legal’ union, Kody has said he still considers himself ‘spiritually’ married to the other three.

The relationship has been strained for years though, particularly after Meri was ensnared in a catfishing scandal in 2015.

Meri went to therapy to deal with the fallout of that scandal, with Kody later admitting he doesn’t wish to be intimate with her anymore.

‘My relationship with Meri is at best just distant and amicable. You know, I could buck up … be tough about it, but I’m not interested in it,’ he said.

Sister Wives airs Sunday nights at 10 PM ET on TLC.