'Sister Wives' star Christine Brown says her heart 'breaks' when she thinks about Meri and Kody's marriage: 'I'm not going to live that way'

• Christine Brown said Meri's relationship with Kody "breaks" her heart.
• Christine and Kody announced their separation in November after 27 years of marriage.

Kody and Meri Brown's marriage was in the spotlight on the first part of "Sister Wives One on One," which aired on Sunday — and Kody's ex Christine didn't hold back comments on her former sister wife's nonintimate relationship with Kody.

"Oh, my heart breaks when I think about their marriage. And I don't want that," Christine, who was Kody's third wife, told the "One on One" host Sukanya Krishnan of the relationship between Kody and his first wife, Meri. "And I don't want to be in a loveless marriage. I have no intention of living like that. And if that's what my future looks like, I'm not going to live that way."

Christine announced her separation from Kody in November after 27 years of "spiritual" marriage. But cracks in their marriage have been clear throughout season 16 of "Sister Wives," which appears to have been filmed from late 2020 through early 2021.

Episodes this season show Kody's frustration that Christine doesn't abide by his strict rules to prevent COVID-19 from spreading within his family, which include changing clothes upon reentering the house from outside and wiping down mail before bringing it in.

As a result, Kody has almost exclusively been staying at his wife Robyn's house throughout the season, avoiding the homes of his wives who don't follow his COVID-19 rules as closely. Christine has expressed frustration about this choice, saying in solo interviews that Kody's decision to stay away has strained his relationships with Ysabel and Truely, their daughters who live with Christine.

"It's hard for the girls to respect their dad when they see he has favorites," she said on a previous episode. "And they struggle with how apparent it is that he's more comfortable at some houses than others."

Christine and Kody have had ups and downs in their marriage throughout the 16 seasons of "Sister Wives," but in the season finale, Christine reached a breaking point when Kody told her he didn't want an intimate marriage anymore.

Each wife in the Brown family maintains their own home with Kody and their children, and Christine told Kody he was no longer welcome in her bedroom.

"My heart's shattered, to be honest with you," she said about the end of their relationship. But she said she was "not interested in a half-marriage or a partial marriage or whatever we have."

Part two of "Sister Wives One on One" airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.