'Sister Wives' star Robyn Brown says Christine Brown is not divorced until she's 'physical with another man'

• Robyn Brown said on "Sister Wives" that Christine isn't divorced until she's with another man.
• She also said Christine was "invalidating" the family's beliefs.

"Sister Wives" star Robyn Brown questioned the legitimacy of Kody and Christine Brown's divorce on Sunday's episode of the TLC series.

In a solo interview discussing the nature of separation in a polygamous family, Robyn said: "Technically, from my understanding, until Christine is physical with another man, she's not divorced."

Robyn explained that the Brown family's sect of the Mormon church — known as the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) — requires a struggling couple to get the church's "approval" and attend counseling and meetings before they're allowed to use the word divorce, even when they're "spiritually" married to someone and no legal paperwork is involved.

She also said that Christine was "invalidating our beliefs" by saying she's divorced without actually going through that process.

The topic came up during a conversation Christine had with all of her former sister wives and Kody to tell them that she had closed on a house in Utah and was moving in a week's time.

Everyone quickly clarified during the discussion that the church's way of doing things no longer mattered in Christine and Kody's case because Christine was no longer part of the faith.

But in a solo interview, Kody seemed bothered that Christine's wants trumped his own in regards to the split. "All of the sudden it just sank in to me that she's just like: 'I'm leaving, so we're divorced,'" he said.

On a previous episode of "Sister Wives" this season, Christine explained why she decided to use the word "divorce" when telling the former couple's youngest daughter Truely, now 12, that their marriage was over.

"I could have said 'Yeah, we're going to be getting divorced,' and then every time Kody would come over, she'd be watching us like crazy and worrying and wondering," Christine said. "And then also she might have this false sense of hope that we would get back together again. So, I said 'Well, love, we're already divorced.'"

Christine and Kody publicly announced their split in November 2021 after more than 25 years of "spiritual" marriage. They have five adult children in addition to Truely: Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Paedon, 24, Gwendlyn, 21, and Ysabel, 19.

On Sunday's episode, Christine further clarified her choice of words. "Since I don't have any legal contract that binds me with Kody, there was no legal process that we've had to go through," she said. "Neither of us are part of that religion anymore. So, me just saying I'm divorced, I don't see the problem in that at all."

Kody's specific religious beliefs are unclear at this time, though in the wake of his split from Christine he has expressed regret that the Brown family "failed" to show the world a successful plural family.

"Sister Wives" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.