‘Sister Wives’ Kody Brown’s Meltdown Over Meri’s Choice Reveals More Than You Think

The Brown family hasn’t been afraid to air out all their dirty laundry on Sister Wives, even as their plural marriage dynamic broke down. But there’s one topic that seems contentious for the family to talk about — what happened to the wedding rings. In recent years, three of Kody Brown’s four wives have left him. He originally married Meri in 1990, and then entered into spiritual unions with Janelle in 1993 and Christine in 1994. The family brought in a fourth wife, Robyn, who Kody legally married in 2010 to adopt her kids, having to divorce Meri to do so.

Sister Wives premiered the same year as Kody and Robyn’s marriage and chronicled their daily lives. But what was supposed to be an idealistic representation of a plural family quickly descended into chaos. Over time, cracks appeared in the relationships, as they struggled with jealousy, favoritism, emotional neglect, and power imbalances. Christine was the first to leave in 2021, citing a lack of intimacy and respect. Janelle followed in 2022, saying she’d been separated from Kody for months. Meri finally confirmed her split from Kody in 2023, after years of estrangement. Now, only Robyn remains in a marriage with Kody, in an unintentionally monogamous dynamic. The pair have done a lot to symbolize this new chapter in their life, like buying a new million-dollar property. But Kody hasn’t just moved on emotionally — he’s upgraded his wedding ring more than once, which gives insight into where his real priorities lie.

What Happened to the Sister Wives Wedding Rings?

While the Sister Wives cast shares a lot on camera, they haven’t addressed what happened to everyone’s wedding rings after the dissolution of their plural family. Christine noticeably removed her ring soon after announcing her split from Kody. She wasn’t shy to post public photos without it, marking her independence. It’s unclear if she sold the ring or gave it back. But nowadays, she’s sporting a new sparkler on her ring finger, as she remarried David Woolley in 2023.

Similarly, Janelle hasn’t made an official statement about her ring. It’s unclear if she kept, sold, or discarded it. But she noticeably stopped wearing it in on-camera appearances and online following her split from Kody.

Meri had the hardest time letting go of her relationship with Kody. The two were together the longest, and it seems she only got the courage to leave after her fellow sister wives did the same. Not to mention, Kody had already rejected any intimacy with her. Like Janelle and Christine, Meri hasn’t revealed what she did with her own wedding ring, but she no longer wears one.

One source emphasized to The U.S. Sun what a big deal it was when Meri finally removed her ring. “To take a wedding ring off is big in polygamy. It’s Meri’s way of saying, ‘I’m done,’” they said.

Kody Secretly Melted the Wedding Ring Meri Gave Him

What we do know is that Kody’s ring history is a lot messier — and a lot more telling. During Season 18, fans noticed Kody was suddenly wearing a new wedding band, apparently a gift from Robyn. But that wasn’t the first time he made a switch in secret.

He originally wore the ring Meri gave him when they married in 1990, but stopped wearing it not long after Robyn joined the family in 2010. As Christine revealed during the Season 18 tell-all, Kody eventually melted down that original band without telling Meri — a move that blindsided her and clearly caused tension, even if she tried to downplay it publicly.

“There’s a back story here. I don’t feel like it’s all the way my place [to share], but here we are,” Christine said.

“Down the ring, saved the gold, saved the diamonds. Well, Meri found out,” she continued. “She’s like, ‘Well, where’s my ring? You don’t wear it anymore.’ He’s like, ‘I melted it down.’ Just like that. He’s like, ‘I don’t want Meri to have control over me and power over me anymore.’” Then in 2014, when Kody legally married Robyn after divorcing Meri, all the wives — including Meri — designed and paid for a new Claddagh ring for him to wear as a symbol of their plural family.

“We all went in on the design and we got him the ring,” Christine said. “And that’s what he wore for a long time. And then he designed his own ring with Robyn. He and Robyn designed the ring together.” By 2022, during filming for Season 18, Kody had swapped out the Claddagh ring for a new one from Robyn — again, without saying a word. Meri, who was still spiritually married to him at the time, quickly noticed. But when she confronted him, she didn’t get much of an answer. Only a few months later, she officially ended their relationship.

“It’s weird that he’s being so awkward about it,” Meri said on camera after confronting him. “If he doesn’t want me to see the ring, don’t wear it to my house. I did notice that it was replacing the Claddagh ring that we all used to wear together.”

“I have no idea what this ring is or where it came from. If he got it, if Robyn got it for him, if they got it together. I literally have no idea and frankly I don’t care,” she continued. While Meri has said she wasn’t bothered that Kody melted the original ring, she was furious Christine brought the story up on camera — something she’d kept private for over a decade.

“I am extremely frustrated right now. Beyond,” Meri said during the tell-all. “After we did the taping for the one-on-one interviews with Suki, I found out that a story was brought up about me that is not a story that I have ever shared publicly. That is my story to tell when, where and how I want to.”

“And somebody else took it upon themselves to tell that story. And now I’m being forced to talk about it. I’m not happy about it,” she continued. “It was not Christine’s business to tell. She can laugh about it all she wants, but it was not her business to tell.”

“If I wanted to have shared that story in the last 13 years in a public way, I would have done that,” Meri noted. While later speaking to Us Weekly, Janelle echoed Meri’s feelings, saying: “Meri’s very sentimental about the ring that she gave Kody. And I think it bothered her when he melted down the wedding ring.”

Nonetheless, Christine didn’t seem to regret telling the story. She told the publication it felt “weird” giving Kody the Claddagh ring years later, knowing what he’d secretly done to the original one from Meri. While we still don’t know what became of Christine’s own ring, the fact that she was willing to expose Kody’s actions — even at the risk of upsetting Meri — shows just how strongly she felt about it.

Why Did Kody Melt Down Meri’s Ring?

As far as the public knows, Kody didn’t take back or melt down anyone else’s ring — just his own. But when it comes to Meri, he made two very intentional choices that cut deep: first, secretly melting the original ring she gave him in 1990, and later, replacing the Claddagh ring the wives had designed together with a new piece from Robyn — all before Meri left him. Kody has claimed the gold from his original band was his to repurpose, since the ring no longer held meaning. Maybe it was custom-made or expensive and he wanted to make practical use of it. But come on — this is Kody we’re talking about. There’s got to be more to it.

He’s long been criticized by fans for being self-centered and narcissistic. Melting his wedding ring seemed like a power move. He was no longer just Meri’s husband — he was building a plural family. Melting the ring behind her back was one of the earliest examples of how he’d make decisions unilaterally, even when they weren’t in everyone’s best interest, without care for who it may hurt in the process. Then there’s the Claddagh ring. That wasn’t just sentimental — it was a physical symbol of the plural marriage, co-designed and paid for by all the wives. Kody wearing it meant something to all of them, including Meri. Yet, while he was still spiritually married to her, he quietly swapped it out for a new ring from Robyn.

The timing was telling, given that Janelle and Christine had already left. It seemed like Kody was eager for Meri to follow suit, and changing his wedding ring with no explanation was a passive-aggressive way of saying it. It was a subtle but loud reminder the plural marriage no longer mattered to Kody – just Robyn, which is why he’s now wearing a ring that’s just from her. It was likely the final straw for Meri, considering she left him a few months later.

The Wedding Rings Highlight Kody’s Issues with Control

The way Kody treated his wedding rings is a reflection of his larger pattern of control. He spent years erasing Meri emotionally while refusing to give her real closure. He wouldn’t officially end their relationship, but also denied her affection and intimacy. Melting the first ring and ditching the Claddagh were just more ways he asserted power while still pretending she’s the one who gave up.

The rings are also just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Kody’s financial control. While the patriarch was busy melting gold and commissioning new rings, the rest of the family was struggling to afford basic stability. Janelle was living in an RV on Coyote Pass because she couldn’t secure a home, while Robyn ended up in a spacious house that Kody helped her purchase — even after telling the others they all needed to wait so they could build together. Christine sold her Vegas home to fund the family’s move, only for Kody to later accuse her of being selfish when she wanted financial independence after their split.

This is a classic pattern for Kody – he’s always strapped for cash when it came to shared expenses, but always able to splurge when it involved Robyn. He couldn’t figure out permanent housing for his family, but somehow found the time and money to secure a fresh new ring from Robyn — one that conveniently erased the plural family dynamic entirely.

We can’t ignore the favoritism when it’s so glaring. Kody has always needed a ring to symbolize his connection to Robyn — the legal wife, the favorite – even when his family couldn’t afford it. But he had no problem melting down the ring Meri gave him and then replacing the one that represented all the wives without even a heads-up. These jewelry choices weren’t random. They were a statement: Robyn mattered. The rest didn’t.

Why Christine’s Reaction to Kody’s Wedding Ring Matters

Christine’s response to the melted ring may have surprised some viewers — after all, it wasn’t her ring — but that’s exactly what made her reaction so powerful. It shows how deep the sister-wife bond once ran, and how much shared trauma they were all carrying.

Christine has always been the most emotionally attuned wife. She was the first to leave, the first to publicly call out Kody’s bad behavior, and the first to stop playing nice when it became clear he wasn’t treating them equally. Moreover, she risked her relationship with Meri – and her own reputation – by telling the truth about the ring on camera. She chose to expose Kody’s ways so as not to enable him further, at the expense of her and the sister wives, showing how done she is with him.

Maybe Christine was tired of watching Meri stay silent, or maybe she just couldn’t let Kody rewrite the past again. Either way, her decision to expose the story is just another example of what a bad partner Kody really is. At this point, let’s just be grateful that three of his former wives have removed themselves from the dynamic entirely. Here’s to hoping Robyn follows suit one day.