Meri Brown Finds Voice in Sister Wives Season 19, Is Standout Star

Meri Brown took a backseat on Sister Wives for years after troubles with ex Kody Brown — but after their split, she became a scene-stealer for season 19.

“It’s been fun to find my voice,” Meri, 53, exclusively told Us Weekly in December. “[To] just kind of remember it was there.”

Meri confirmed her split from Kody, 55, in January 2023 after both Christine Brown and Janelle Brown left the patriarch in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Since going public with her separation, Meri has stopped riding the line between Team Kody and fourth wife Robyn Brown and Team Ex Wives.

Fans saw firsthand how empowered Meri has become since declaring her singledom throughout season 19, which premiered in September. That newfound voice has made the reality star one of Us’ standout stars of the year.

“I think [it’s] just being a little bit more free to say what I want and not have to worry about what other people think or making sure I’m working on relationships in the family,” Meri told Us of her change in demeanor on the show. “It’s like, ‘Listen, I’m ready to be me. Take me or leave me.’”

Meri explained that people have told her she’s “glowing” after taking back her power and becoming even more independent. “I’ve got a little salt, a little snark, a little sass,” she teased. “I like it. I dunno. It’s fun”

Scroll down for a look back at how Meri commanded the room — and slowly started to steal the Sister Wives spotlight:

She’s Got a Glow About Her

To start off the season, Meri looked healthier and happier. She has been more put together with her style. Unlike seasons’ past, Meri has been a more central figure, with TLC highlighting her lunches with friends, work at her bed and breakfast in Utah and her interactions with ex-sister wives Christine and Janelle.

During the November 10 episode, Meri attended Christine and Kody’s daughter Gwendlyn’s engagement party and the two women exchanged a long hug.

“It’s better on the other side, isn’t it?” Christine asked with a smile.

“Yes. … I don’t know,” Meri said with hesitation. Christine insisted, “It will be. It is. I promise, so much better.”

Meri later confessed, “I liked my side,” but added she was hopeful about the future. “I’m happy for you,” Christine said. The dynamic was refreshing for viewers who haven’t really seen the two interact in years.

Laughing All the Way to Utah

Meri appeared to have her groove back — and her light-hearted spirit — while packing up her Arizona house during the November 24 episode. During the episode, Kody helped Meri move to Utah and the two joked and giggled like old times.

Meri hilariously wore a shirt that read, “I mean, karma’s a bitch,” while packing on what would have been the former couple’s 33rd wedding anniversary. The pair also laughed hard when they accidentally got pinned against each other in the moving truck, settling in a NSFW position.

“I’m just laying the cards out on the table,” Meri told the camera of her unfiltered interactions with her ex-husband. “This is who I am. It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re not married.”

Creating Boundaries

After growing close to Robyn, 46, throughout her marriage to Kody, Meri revealed she had to set boundaries for herself. During the December 15 episode, Meri claimed that their friendship was no longer equal, so she stopped giving so much of herself.

“With Robyn, I feel like I’ve put in a lot, and especially over COVID, it’s like I was the one who was always calling. It wasn’t being reciprocated,” she alleged. “I really believe that a relationship has to be reciprocal, and it wasn’t reciprocal.”

Meri pointed to Robyn missing her mother’s funeral during COVID-19 as something that was “very hurtful” and made her reevaluate their friendship. “I quit calling her and texting her because I was the only one doing it,” Meri revealed. “It wasn’t meant to be mean.”

Meri told Us that same month that she and Robyn “don’t talk very often,” confirming that she put up boundaries after leaving Kody and Us can’t help but respect the power move.

Confiding in Friends

Throughout the season, viewers have gotten an inside look at Meri’s inner circle in Utah. In addition to her best friend, Jen, who has been featured in past seasons, several other friends have sat down with Meri and openly discussed her alleged toxic romance with Kody on camera.

Meri met up with pals Andreah and Hilaree during the December 8 episode and got real about where she stood post-breakup. “So have you f—ed any men?” Andreah asked Meri, who froze after hearing the blunt question.

“Andreah just has to jump right in with the question,” Meri said with a laugh, telling the cameras, “I’m like, ‘Well, things are not going, but thanks for asking.’”

Hilaree, meanwhile, reminded Meri, “Survival isn’t the way to happiness. If you’re playing survival for your entire married life, I don’t think you’re going to be happy.”

Meri confessed, “It’s a really weird perspective after just ending a 33-year marriage,” noting that she sometimes wished she was only 45 years old when she eventually left. She added she will “work on” getting to the point where she can say, “I loved my time with Kody and I love where I am now.”

Self-Reflection

“She’s very emotional and I don’t want to be emotional,” Meri told the cameras after Robyn came to say her goodbyes during the November 24 episode. “I’ve had a lot of emotions through this. Through the past decade. Through the past four years while we’ve been living in Flagstaff [and] through the past year. I’ve had a lot of emotions.”

She explained, “I keep my emotions guarded, and I only share them with the people that I’m comfortable sharing them with.”

Meri revealed that she was done working around other people’s feelings (finally!) about her own relationship decisions. “I’m at peace with where I am,” she concluded. “I have an internal happiness that I haven’t had for a really long time and I’m not going to let that be brought down.”

Knowing Her Worth

During the December 15 episode, Meri claimed that when she told Kody things were over between them (which fans saw in season 18) that he was more concerned with how Robyn took it.

“She was upset by it and so she stood up and she walked away,” she recalled of how Robyn left the table when Meri told Kody she was leaving him. Meri added that Kody later sat down with her and said it was “so hard” on Robyn, calling his wife a “poor girl” for having to deal with the split.

Looking back, Meri told her friends, “I don’t understand him,” before revealing that she chose to speak up this time around. “I looked at him and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it was kind of hard on me too.’”

She later told the cameras, “I’m not discounting how hard it was on Robyn. [But] it’s like he’s completely discounting me and the fact that he and I started this family together.”

Meri concluded the episode by visiting her own house in Las Vegas that she shared with her plural family. She left the property saying she was “beyond it” and closed that chapter. (It’s giving “yas queen” vibes, and Us is here for it.)

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