'Sister Wives' Star Christine Brown Opens Up About Leaving ...

Christine Brown has opened up about her decision to split from her longtime husband, Kody Brown, noting that she knew it would “break hearts.”

On Sunday’s episode of TLC reality series Sister Wives, Christine talked with host Sukanya Krishnan about leaving the polygamist family, which includes Kody and his wives (Meri, Janelle, Robyn, and formerly Christine) and their 18 children. Christine joined the marriage in 1994 when Kody was already married to his first wife Meri and second wife Janelle. Robyn arrived in 2010.

“It’s not fun breaking people’s hearts,” Christine said in the episode (via People). “I mean, at my core, I just want people to be happy, and I just want people to feel loved. But I knew I was making a decision that would break hearts, and it tore me apart. And it was super, super sad.”

Christine left the marriage last November, announcing on her Instagram page that she and Kody had “grown apart” and so she had made “the difficult decision to leave.”

“I put everybody first most of the time. I put whatever Kody needed [first],” she told Krishnan. “I was like, ‘I can be the peacemaker here. What do you need? What does Janelle need? What does Meri need? What do all the kids need?’ It left me running on empty, and I asked [Kody] for help. I’m like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ He was like, ‘You’re just changing all the agreements.’ I said, ‘I’m overwhelmed.’ And he couldn’t help.”

The TLC star also noted that she no longer follows the same religious beliefs as the Browns, who are members of the Mormon group the Apostolic United Brethren. “In our church, polygamous women can leave. They’re not trapped. They can leave if they want to leave and if it’s not working,” she said. “I haven’t been a member of that church for a long time… I just think that God’s fine if I just want to be happy.”

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'Sister Wives' Star Christine Brown Splits From Kody Brown After 25 Years

Sharing his own thoughts on the situation, Kody said that he is “comfortable” with Christine’s choice to leave the marriage and the religion. “She’s free from that yolk of bondage, if you will,” he stated.

Sister Wives, Sundays, 10/9c, TLC