'Sister Wives' star Meri Brown addresses online criticism of her marriage to Kody: 'I have my own value'

• Meri Brown said on "Sister Wives" that she has her "own value" outside of her husband Kody.
• She said it "shocks" her that people are so "mean" about her choice to stay married.

TLC's "Sister Wives" star Meri Brown confronted online criticism about her decision to stay "spiritually" married to Kody Brown despite his romantic disinterest in her.

On Sunday's episode, she explained that with the news of Christine Brown's split from Kody having gone public, people are more outspoken about their disapproval of Meri's life decisions.

"These people come at me and they're just like, 'why can't you be strong like Christine, why don't you leave Kody?'" she said in a solo interview. "It frustrates me because you know what? Christine has her own value regardless of Kody. I have my own value regardless of Kody."

Meri told cameras that it "shocks" her how mean people on the internet can be about her choice to stay with the family.

She's previously explained that she always saw her choice to marry Kody as more than a romantic one.

"When I married Kody, it wasn't just because I loved him. I felt like that I had a confirmation from God that I was supposed to be married to Kody — and I still feel like that," she said in an earlier episode.

Throughout season 17, Meri has stood firm in her decision to stay in the family, although Kody said that he didn't consider himself "married to Meri" anymore.

"If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn't get an argument with me," he said on a previous episode. "I don't believe that we can ever be functional. And I don't believe that I will ever be emotionally safe with her."

In the same episode, Meri admitted, "I want to work on the relationship but Kody has basically said that he doesn't."

"Does that mean we're just not married anymore? That's not how I consider it. I feel like we're still married," she added.

She said that she stays because she wants to leave the "door open" in case Kody is ever open to rekindling a romance with her again.

Meri was Kody's first wife — they legally married in 1990 and divorced in 2014 so that Kody could legally marry his fourth wife Robyn Brown and legally adopt her three children from a previous marriage.

Then in 2015, Meri got entangled in a catfishing scandal that strained her marriage to Kody and her relationships with her child Leon Brown and the wider Brown family.

Meri keeps busy and focused on goals outside of her marriage. She recently shared pictures of her and a friend's trip to Disneyland on Instagram.

In her latest post about a retreat she hosted at her bed and breakfast Lizzie's Heritage Inn in Utah, Meri wrote, "It's so important to take time to tune out the noise and distractions so you can figure out what is most important to YOU."

New episodes of "Sister Wives" air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.