“Sister Wives”' Meri Is 'Very Comfortable' with Ex Kody but They're 'Not Friends': 'Not That Kind of Relationship' (Exclusive)

Meri Brown is on good terms with her ex-husband Kody Brown, but she wouldn't say they are friends.

Opening up to PEOPLE exclusively about where the former couple currently stands, Meri says: "When we're in each other's space, we are friendly and kind with each other."

"I don't think that it's inauthentic at all. It's just not at a place that we're calling each other and texting and being like, 'Hey, friend, how's it going? What are you doing today?'" the Sister Wives star, 53, explains. "It's not that kind of a relationship, but when we are in each other's space, when we do need to interact. It's totally fine."

"I'm very comfortable with him. It's not awkward as far as that goes, but we're just not friends. Certainly not friends. You know what I mean? I'm happy with it," she adds.

Related: Sister Wives' Meri Brown Opens Up About Jealousy in Polygamy: 'I Thought I Was a Bad Person' (Exclusive)

Meri was Kody's wife before the pair entered into a polygamous bond with Janelle Brown. Christine Brown and Robyn Brown also joined the arrangement later on. However, from 2021 onward, Kody, 55, would lose Christine, 52, Janelle, 55, and Meri as wives.

Unlike Christine and Janelle, Meri — who announced her separation jointly with Kody in January 2023, though they previously legally divorced in 2014 so that Robyn's kids could get on Kody's insurance — took things a step further as she got her three-decade-long marriage terminated through the church.

According to Meri, "It was important to do because I needed to terminate the marriage on every level," she shares.

"I know Christine didn't feel like it was important. I've heard Kody say he didn't know why I needed to do it," the businesswoman says. "He's told me, he's like, 'Well, why do we need to do that?' I'm like, 'Well, because we've been married that way this whole time. If that wasn't valid, then what were you doing with all these women all these years? So don't tell me that wasn't valid, because at one time you believed that it was.'"

"I felt that it was. For me, it was important to do it, to break all ties completely. So, that's why I went through that process, regardless of the fact that I am not a part of that church and neither is [he]," she continues. "I still felt like that was the process that we went through to get married, and that needed to be broken and terminated that way. That was just important for me."

Related: Sister Wives: Kody Admits He's Thought About 'Screwing' Over Janelle in Coyote Pass Drama but Wife Robyn 'Won't Let Me'

One thing that surprised Meri in the aftermath of her divorce was Kody's surprisingly emotional reaction to her permanent departure from Flagstaff, Arizona, where the Brown family moved in 2018 after living in Las Vegas for more than seven years.

Kody's reaction was featured in a recent Sister Wives episode, where he was shown breaking down in tears as he told Meri they "had something special." To that, Meri says it brought up "a lot of confusion" for her.

"Honestly, it just doesn't make sense to me that he would say one thing and then act like he's all brokenhearted," she explains. "But he and I have talked after that, and it's like ... he didn't say this to me. This is my perspective. I just think that it surprised him as well, that he had the emotion that he did. I think it really just hit him that it was like, 'Oh, okay. It's done. It's over with.' I had been dealing with it for many, many, many years prior. "

Related: Sister Wives: Kody Sobs as He Tells Meri He's 'Sorry' for the Last 7 Years but She Doesn't Understand Why He's So 'Emotional'

At this time, Meri says her life post-divorce has "been really good."

"It's been very, very busy building businesses, doing all the things," she adds. "But it's been really good."

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

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