Christine and Kody split in November 2021 after 25 years of marriage.
It's been nine months since Sister Wives stars Christine and Kody Brown announced they were ending their 25-year plural marriage, and now Christine is sharing her thoughts on dating post-split. The 50-year-old speaks with People about why she plans to put her polygamist lifestyle behind her.
Christine explains that throughout her marriage to Kody -- whom she shares son Paedon, 24, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12 -- she realized she "needed more communication, more trust," and realized they "didn't really have a partnership," something she's looking for in the future.
"I want a partnership. I want a guy who actually loves me and wants to be with me intimately," she shares of her hopes for dating in the future. "The attraction needs to be there. There needs to be a mutual chemistry. But I love the idea of a romantic relationship, eventually. Adventurous would be great. Someone who just wants to try new things because now I'm into trying new things all the time. I just want to have fun all the time."
While Christine isn't going to judge other polygamists, she isn't going back down that route herself. "I will be a monogamist from here on out," she declares. "Polygamy is not for me anymore. People can do it, it's fine. Live your life, but no, no, not me."
When Christine wed Kody in 1994, he was already married to first and second wives, Meri and Janelle. "Meri and Janelle weren't enemies, but they didn't really get along," she explains. "Then I came in and evened it all out." Robyn, Kody's fourth wife, joined the family in 2010.
"It was crowded, but we had so much fun together," Christine tells People, noting that she "only ever wanted a polygamous marriage," since that is how she was raised. "I had an ideal childhood," she explains. "I was raised with so much love."
However, things have changed and Christine is ready to try something new.
"I started thinking maybe this isn't working for me," she explains. "And then I stopped believing in polygamy. I realized I didn't really want to live it anymore. I didn't like sharing a husband or feeling like I wasn't important."
"I get to live life for me," she adds. "My whole world has changed, and every single cell in my body is happier."
Christine admits that packing up and moving to Utah post-split was freeing. "We got here and that night when I went to bed, I realized I was home," she shares. "It was just like that. And I got to start over again and it was exciting and it was new and so scary because I had no idea what to expect, but I was so excited. I remember feeling hope for the first time in a long time because I just got to take my life by my own and go. It was wonderful."
Christine and Kody announced their split in November 2021, and she shed more light on her decision to leave him while speaking to People.
"He broke my little girl's heart," she says of a situation that occurred as their daughter, Ysabel, was about to undergo surgery to correct her scoliosis in September 2020. "I really find it hard to stay with a guy who I don't respect."
"I understood COVID, and why he couldn't come, but she didn't. And she still has a really hard time with it," Christine continues. "I was there with Ysabel the whole time in New Jersey for the surgery. And I remember them pointing out, like, 'Are you here alone? Where's your husband?' I'm like, 'Oh, he's not here.' And they're like, 'Whoa, isn't that hard?' And I'm like, 'No, it's hard for her. It's hard for Ysabel, but it's not hard for me.'"
Christine says the situation was a "good wake-up call" for her.
"In the end, I would've preferred to have him there, of course, because it's what Ysabel needed," she adds. "But I didn't need him anymore."
Fans will be able to watch Christine and Kody's split play out on the upcoming season of Sister Wives, which is set to debut Sunday, Sept. 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
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