One of Robyn's daughters from her previous marriage says she was explicitly told Kody's other kids "didn't consider" her their sister, while Janelle and Kody detail their daughter Maddie's strained relationship with her father.
Kody Brown has so many children, it's not entirely surprising they don't all get along with him ... or each other. And that was, once again, a big topic of conversation on the latest episode of TLC's Sister Wives.
On Sunday night's new hour, Robyn's two older daughters from her previous marriage, Aurora and Breanna, said they never felt fully welcomed into the family when their mother was the last to enter a plural marriage with Kody, Janelle, Meri and Christine. The subject came up as Janelle and Christine talked about an upcoming family event, explaining how things have been splintered ever since a disastrous Christmas present text chain the year before.
As Christine put it, things got so bad, it caused a permanent divide between Kody, Robyn and their kids and Christine, Janelle and their children. Robyn, however, said her kids simply wanted to take a step back from the situation and put up some boundaries, "but it was never anything about, 'We don't want to see you again.'"
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View Story"They just never felt like they were welcomed into the family," said Christine, who felt she had been welcoming to them and always invited them to everything.
"My mom's kids and I have each had our own experiences being told directly, I have been told directly, multiple circumstances by multiple different people that I was not accepted, that I was not their sister, that they didn't consider or see me that way," Aurora said in a confessional.
Her sister Breanna then added, "The parents could have done a better job with connecting us as a family and it never really happened."
Christine continued to push back in her own confessional, however, saying that where there were "hard times" where her kids were "frustrated" with the situation, "they always considered Robyn's kids their siblings just the same." She added that her daughter Truely didn't even realize Robyn's children "weren't biologically her siblings as well ... that's how combined they were."
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View StoryKody, meanwhile, seemed to agree with Robyn and her kids.
"There's some people in my family that feel like they are superior to others and they're like, 'Oh well, we're not going to include them in our club,'" he said. "I'm going to move forward and find happiness and joy outside of my club because it was my club and I got kicked out of it."
That wasn't the only kid drama in the episode, however, as both Janelle and Kody also opened up about his strained relationship with their daughter Madison, or "Maddie," and her husband, Caleb.
In her confessionals, Janelle said Kody was the one who "sort of cut off communication" with the duo when the "family really started to dissolve." He said he has not been out to visit her in Montana and also doesn't call.
"Maddie is mama bear to an extreme," she said of her daughter, who has three kids of her own. "She has felt like until he can be consistent and show up and not be dramatic, she feels like it's probably better if they don't know about him and Maddie and Caleb don't really have much relationship with him because he doesn't call them."
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View StoryRobyn, meanwhile, said she has encouraged Kody to work on his relationships with his kids, but added it's a two-way street and "Maddie hasn't been reaching out to her dad either."
"I didn't really cut off communications with Madison. She cut them off with me. Every time I talked to her, it was a fish for gossip and I got tired of it," he insisted in his own confessionals.
He went on to say that the best time of his life was when everyone -- including the couple -- lived in Las Vegas at the same time. But then, he said, "things started to fall apart with the divorce and then my differences with Janelle and the differences over COVID ... it just made all those relationships go sour."
Kody added that he's "so angry about how I've been treated," saying he's "not willing to take blame for things that my wife or ex-wife is sitting there telling them that I did." He, however, did add he hopes the time comes "when the contempt will subside and we'll be able to find forgiveness and love again."
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View StoryChristine went on to call BS on some of his allegations, calling them "absolutely ridiculous." According to her, "all the kids that were frustrated were frustrated away before I left. My leaving didn't change his kids relationship with him."
Looking ahead, Janelle told Christine she hoped he would have some sort of "connection" with his kids in the future, even if he doesn't with her at all. They also brought up how the whole family will be together for an event very, very soon, with Christine admitting she was "super nervous" about it.
While they all expressed hope that things will calm down between everyone eventually, it's clearly still a work in progress.
Sister Wives airs Sundays on TLC.