'Sister Wives' star Christine Brown reveals the 'wake up call' that made her decide to leave Kody

• Christine Brown told People the "wake-up call" that made her decide to leave Kody after 27 years.
• She said she lost respect for him when he didn't come to New Jersey for their daughter Ysabel's surgery.

TLC's "Sister Wives" star Christine Brown revealed the "wake-up call" that made her realize she had to leave her husband Kody in a recent interview with People.

"He broke my little girl's heart," she said, referring to an incident that fans got to see play out on season 16 of the hit reality show that follows Kody's life with Christine and his three current wives, Meri, 51, Janelle, 53, and Robyn, 43.

Christine and Kody have six children together and their daughter Ysabel, 19, had to have surgery to correct her scoliosis in September 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kody has 18 children in total between all of his past and current wives, and at the time he was trying to maintain strict COVID protocols among his households. So, he chose not to travel to New Jersey with Christine to support Ysabel after her surgery.

"I understood COVID, and why he couldn't come, but she didn't. And she still has a really hard time with it," Christine told People.

Christine, 50, said that people at the hospital would ask her where Kody was. But not having him there wasn't difficult for her — it was actually enlightening.

"It was a good wake-up call. In the end, I would've preferred to have him there, of course, because it's what Ysabel needed. But I didn't need him anymore," she said.

Kody's decision not to be with their daughter during that time changed Christine's perspective on her then-husband. "I really find it hard to stay with a guy who I don't respect," she said. "I needed more communication, more trust, and I realized we didn't really have a partnership."

Christine and Kody announced that their spiritual marriage was over in November, and Christine has since moved to Utah with her youngest child, Truely, 12.

She told People that she's interested in dating again, but Truely isn't quite ready for her to start.

"I want a guy who actually loves me and wants to be with me intimately," the "Cooking With Christine" star said, looking ahead to a potential romance in the future.

The new season of "Sister Wives," which will chronicle Christine and Kody's split, premieres on September 11.