"Sister Wives" season 6 drama came to an end last Sunday night, Nov. 22. TLC aired a special "Tell-All" episode with the entire Brown family, headed by their polygamous patriarch, Kody Brown. His first wife Meri took front and center as she openly confessed details of her online affair in front of the cameras.
Kody, Meri and the three other wives -- Janelle, Christine and Robyn -- sat down in a living room setting with "Today Show" host Tamra Hall, who acted as facilitator and interviewer in the two-hour special.
"To set the record straight, Meri, was there any physical relationship with this person?" Hall asked, referring to her online lover, who turned out to be a female con artist.
Meri denied that their relationship was ever physical. "I've never met this person, I've never seen him," Meri answered, adding that the pictures that she saw were photos of an actor.
Meri blamed loneliness for her emotional affair, beginning with her divorce from Kody last year. She said she needed someone to be sympathetic to her and this person in the Internet filled that need. However, she soon realized something wasn't right when their relationship became verbally abusive, and eventually led to threats. Meri feared she was being followed and so she distanced herself from her family because of guilt and the need to protect them.
"I just knew I had to [tell them]," Meri said when asked what made her tell her secret to her familiy. "I believe that what the goal was -- to break up this family."
Thankfully for Meri, the Browns are adamant about sticking together. The three other sister wives are behind her 100 percent throughout this ordeal.
"My first reaction was to put on armor and go to war," Janelle said.
"Our job is to keep everybody safe," Christine agreed.
Their husband, Kody, who was seen taking nervous breaths in between Meri's confession, initially said that he was confused with the situation.
"I didn't know what to think. At the time it seemed so vague. I didn't want to push her ... she hasn't felt well, hasn't seemed like herself for a long time," he said. At the end, Kody's resolve was to forgive Meri and stay united as a family.
"This is somebody who I see was trying to exploit her -- to literally harm our family and find some way to damage our children. So nothing but forgiveness in this case. I see it as a flirt. So what," Kody concluded.
We will keep our family together with LOVE and solidarity! @MeriBrown1 @JanelleBrown117 @rosecolored6 @LuvgvsUwngs #SisterWives
— Kody Brown (@realkodybrown) November 23, 2015
Meanwhile, the older Brown kids also had a share of the spotlight when they, too sat with Hall during a short portion. When the host asked them what they thought of polygamy, it was surprising to see that none of the children wanted it for themselves.
Meri's daughter Mariah, 20, admitted that she used to want to have sister wives but now she has seen how difficult it is to make it work. She explained that she needed to reevaluate what she wanted in her life and she's now indecisive about plural marriage.
Maddie, Janelle's 20-year-old daughter, also said, "I'm not one for plural marriage, I never will be for plural marriage."
Their father Kody took to Twitter to say that he understood and supported his kids' opinions.
No disappointment that kids aren't pursuing plural marriage. I don't need that validation. I love for them to find their path. #SisterWives
— Kody Brown (@realkodybrown) November 23, 2015
So far, TLC has not announced when the next season of "Sister Wives" will premiere.
