Sister Wives Catfish Scandal: "Lover" Pens Tell-All

Meri Brown’s sticky wicket of an affair is getting worse.

The Sister Wives star and Kody Brown’s ex-wife was involved in a catfish debacle, where she thought she was falling in love with a man on the interwebs.

In reality it was Oklahoma whack job Jackie Overton, who has just announced plans to write a 200-page book about the relationship, aptly titled Almost Meri’ed.

According to Radar Online, Overton bills the tell-all as a “love story,” filled with “photos, more text snippets and lots of things” that she’s never “told anyone about the affair.”

The $ 6 book, which Overton says will be published before Christmas, “is funny in some parts: it’s very humbling” and promises a “huge twist and surprise ending.”

When they first met, Overton pretended to be a man named “Sam” and managed to make Meri fall for her.

There are recordings of Meri telling “Sam” that he was “kinder and sweeter” than Kody.

A source told In Touch that news of the book “could be really embarrassing for her.”

Could be?

“They could have had phone sex!” the source said. “It’s so scary for her that the book is being written,”

“This is just humiliating for Meri to be so intimate with someone who’s really, for all intents and purposes, a very scary woman from Oklahoma.”

Meri admitted to the affair on a TLC special, citing her daughter leaving for college and estrangement from Kody as the reasons for seeking out a relationship.

“Meri just wants to move past this already, but she may be paying the price for her actions for a long time to come,” the source added.

When the scandal unfolded, Meri released a statement to In Touch: 

“During an emotional and vulnerable time earlier this year, I began speaking with someone online who turned out not to be who they said they were.

“I never met this person and I regret being drawn into the situation, but I hope because of it I can help others who find themselves in similar circumstances.

“Throughout this whole ordeal, my family has supported and stood by me.I am grateful to them for their love and strength through this difficult time.”

Sister Wives Reunion Recap: Catfishing Confessions

We had been promised a Sister Wives reunion unlike any other.

Sunday night, TLC delivered on that promise and then some.

With the backdrop of Meri’s catfishing confessions, the stakes were abnormally high heading into Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 14. And it showed.

Kody Brown, his wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn, and their children all sat down with Today reporter Tamron Hall to discuss all the drama.

While it was far from the only noteworthy crisis of Season 6, Meri Brown catfished online by a woman pretending to be a man certainly felt like it.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Kody said of the unsettling situation.

“At the time it seemed so vague. I didn’t want to push her … she hasn’t felt well, hasn’t seemed like herself for a long time,” he lamented.

Until Robyn “made” her, Meri didn’t even ‘fess up to her spouse.

“I knew something wasn’t right. I was begging her to talk to me,” Robyn said of her sister wife, and at that point, she decided to reveal all.

“I just knew I had to,” Meri said, adding that her online “friend” threatened to ruin her. “I believe that was the goal – to break up this family.”

If so, #fail. As you know if you watch Sister Wives online, what doesn’t kill the Browns has a way of making them stronger in the end.

“My first reaction was to put on armor and go to war,” Janelle says, while Christine echoed that: “Our job is to keep everybody safe.”

Meri didn’t feel safe. She felt scared as well as rather guilty.

As for Kody’s take on what some call an emotional affair?

“This is somebody who I see was trying to exploit her,” he explained, “to literally harm our family and find some way to damage our kids.”

“So nothing but forgiveness in this case. I see it as a flirt. So what,” he says, noting he doesn’t “even know what” emotional infidelity is.

That’s the company line and he’s sticking to it, anyway.

As Meri sees it, “people are always going to believe what they want to believe,” but someone “targeted us and wanted to tear our family apart.”

That, she reiterates, is “not happening on our watch.”

View Slideshow: 18 Reality TV Show Families That Make Us Want to Vomit

Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 13 Recap: Catfished!!

Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 13 took us inside this summer’s catfishing scandal that roiled our beloved rag tag band of TLC polygamists.

As you may have heard whether you watch Sister Wives online or not, one of Kody Brown’s wives was wooed, lured and abused by online admirer.

One who masqueraded as a male, but was really a female.

The con artist even threatened to “damage” her family, we learned on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 13, an installment devoted to the scandal.

Meri said she felt lost and emotionally volatile when her daughter, Mariah, left for college, and it was that feeling of loneliness that led her astray.

Her unconventional family makeup played a role as well.

“Usually when people go through empty nest it’s a couple doing it together,” she said through tears. “In a plural situation that’s not the case.”

“I’m in a place where I just feel alone, isolated, lonely.”

Innocent online chat sessions became a full blown Meri Brown catfish scandal when the shady character on the web “really made me trust him.”

“I felt this release,” she explained to the cameras.

“It just felt really good to laugh.”

When the man, who was actually a woman, started expressing love and attraction towards her, Brown admits that she felt flattered, albeit confused.

“He was making me really start to feel love for who he was portraying himself to be,” she admitted, though she said she was not interested in romance.

That’s when things got to get weird, she says:

“There were times I was talking to him that I knew he was just feeding me bulls–t, and I chose to ignore it because I enjoyed just talking to somebody.”

But as she tried to shut him/her down, the online persona got pushy with her, and then increasingly defensive when Meri began to turn up the heat.

“When I would ask him about it he would flip out,” she said. “He would be almost verbally abusive with me,” and then it got to an even scarier point.

He claimed he had “technologically-savvy friends” who could do “damage,” and at some point after that, Meri says she learned he was really a she.

Brown told all this to the cameras; Meri making the admission to her family is something that did not happen this week at least. Perhaps next Sunday.

On TLC’s Sister Wives: Tell All two-hour reunion, we’re guessing there’s no way this isn’t a primary focal point and all will address it together then.

Sister Wives Preview: Meri Brown Catfish Drama Ahead?!

Things are about to get all sorts of real on Sister Wives, based on this sneak preview of Sunday"s episode of the hit TLC reality program.

The teaser wraps up with a very dramatic, vague clip that makes it seem like we may be seeing the Meri Brown catfish scandal play out.

There"s crying, tension and dialogue that certainly suggests as much, although we have been fooled by these masters of editing before.

We"ve been had by so many reality TV hoaxes that we can"t say with any certainty whether or not this has to do with Meri"s online affair.

The timeline seems to fit, as do the snippets, that could simply be TLC knowing people are interested in this topic and conning us all.

Yet Meri says, "they have no idea how bad it is, they don"t know what I brought into the family." Did she bring in a really bad flu virus?

We"re guessing not. And after all the Browns fought for via the adoption and Sister Wives divorce "restructuring," this had to be tough.

Stay tuned Sunday night or watch Sister Wives online after the fact to see the tears flow and the Lifetime-esque dramatic music play.

Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 10 Recap: The Judge Decides ... WHAT?!

Sister Wives finally showed us if the family’s efforts to adopt Robyn’s kids – Dayton, Aurora and Breanna – were successful last night.

The affable polygamist patriarch with the bizarre hair, Kody Brown, and his wives had been lobbying for this for so long. Did they achieve the goal?

“Congratulations,” the judge said on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 10, fittingly titled “A Judge Decides,” approving the adoption requests at last.

And that was that.

“[The adoption is] so vital to our family,” Kody said, repeating what he’s said so many times. “It’s so important, but we don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

Christine, Kody’s third sister wife, also reiterated that their entire effort is likely to “come down to the judge and how he feels about plural families.”

Kody hoped the judge would see “value” in their large and loving family, however unconventional it may seem, and after a “tense” hearing, he did.

“This is what it was all about – it was all about the kids,” states Meri, Kody’s first sister wife, who divorced Kody so Robyn could legally marry him.

“It wasn’t about me or a legal marriage or a legal divorce. It was about the kids. And it was definitely worth it,” even though for her it was the hardest.

But the adoption of Dayton, Aurora and Breanna isn’t the only exciting moment Sunday. Madison Brown, the daughter of Kody and Janelle, is dating!

“There’s a guy, and we’re pretty serious,” Madison teases her parents. “And you know him.” He’s Caleb Brush, the brother-in-law of Kody’s brother.

“This isn’t some weird second-cousin marriage thing,” Janelle interjects, explaining to viewers that it sounds off, but there is no blood relation involved.

“Hey, hey! I couldn’t have picked better myself!” Kody says.

All in all, a banner night for the fam. Follow the link to watch Sister Wives online and catch up with all the Brown happenings this season so far.

Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 9 Recap: Robyn"s BIG News!

Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 9 was titled “Robyn’s Big Announcement.” What did that consist of? We’ll give you three guesses … or just tell you:

Kody and his fourth sister wife signed adoption paperwork on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 9, the final step before taking their case before a judge.

The final phase of their long, emotional journey to ensure that Robyn’s kids will legally become Browns is in sight. The stakes are high. The tension?

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” Christine says, and the reason is obvious. “Polygamists generally don’t win things. They don’t win adoption cases.”

“There’s no guarantees,” Robyn adds, noting if the judge dismisses their plea then it will be “hard” to tell her children that “this isn’t going to work.”

If you watch Sister Wives online, you know these aren’t your typical polygamists, and that perhaps, just maybe, a Nevada judge will see it thusly.

Either way … Robyn and Kody are expecting a baby! Oh yes!

Aurora and Breanna, her older daughters, are beside themselves with joy, while son Dayton is reserved as he processes his mom’s fifth pregnancy.

Robyn also welcomed son Solomon with Kody in 2011.

“I’m nervous,” Robyn says of their next child. “I sort of been preparing myself for … that people won’t have a good attitude about [the pregnancy].”

That’s why she had Meri break the big news first, and after the family found out, Robyn receives nothing but a “unified expression of excitement.”

To her, that was the greatest feeling in the world.

Despite strongly hinting that she might be expecting twins (well played, TLC), we learn there is “just one” baby Brown growing in Robyn’s uterus.

Kody, you can admit you’re slightly relieved.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Expecting Babies in 2015

Sister Wives Recap: So Many Girls, Only One Kody

Kody Brown, literally up to his elbows in women, attempted to bond with his youngest daughters on an all-new episode of Sister Wives this week.

Watch Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 8 Online

At one point on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 8, the Brown patriarch and his girls ended up in a situation one of the wives was not a big fan of.

Having a blast on a California beach trip is great and all, but Robyn Brown wishes her hubby would have individual heart to hearts with them instead.

Previously acknowledging that he didn’t have the best relationship with his girls, Kody came up with this road trip/beach idea as a way to fix that.

“This will allow us to hang out and bond,” Ysabel, one of the five companions, explained. “I’m excited to go somewhere all alone with dad.”

“It’ll be nice to have dad all to ourselves,” Savannah added.

You know you have a big family when “only” five of you go somewhere together and you legitimately consider that “all to ourselves” or “all alone.”

That’s no surprise if you watch Sister Wives online, though. When you have four wives and 17 kids, well, taking it down to just five kids is relaxing!

Meanwhile, Maddie Brown explained to Robyn and Meri, Kody’s first sister wife, why she wasn’t being allowed to get baptized by the LDS:

“They called me and said it was too contradictory and they hope I reconsider [joining the church] when we’re not such a public family.”

Maddie elaborates that the LDS church, which banned polygamy a century ago, wouldn’t accept her unless she would “publicly disown” her family.

“That’s so unfair,” Robyn responds, and we kind of agree.

Maddie reveals she’s now struggling with her faith.

“My beliefs don’t fit a religion other than the Mormon Church,” says Maddie, who is engaged to one man and does not plan to be in a plural marriage.

“And now I don’t want to join the Mormon Church,”

Elsewhere, Meri Brown confronted Janelle about partaking in therapy sessions and they both decided it was time to help mend their rocky relationship.

The two agree that they would like to find peace and find a way through the “turbulence” that has occurred from the “beginning of the relationship.”

“So what was the problem all these years? I don’t know,” Janelle says, presumably serious, as though plural marriage isn’t the long and short of it.

To each their own, but just saying.

Meri Brown, Sister Wives Star, Admits Online Affair with Woman She Thought Was a Man!

Sister Wives star Meri Brown, one of Kody Brown’s wives, admitted Tuesday that she had an online affair … with a woman she believed to be a man!

Brown thought she was having an “emotional affair” with a woman who, it turns out, was a man – one catfishing her throughout their “relationship.”

Meri tells People this week:

“During an emotional and vulnerable time earlier this year, I began speaking with someone who turned out to be not who they said they were.”

“I never met this person and I regret being drawn into this situation but I hope because of it I can help others who find themselves in similar circumstances.”

Manti T’eo feela ya, Meri:

It’s been a rough year for Meri, who got divorced from Kody Brown earlier this year so he could marry her fellow sister wife, his fourth wife, Robyn.

Kody married Robyn so that he could legally adopt her three children from a previous marriage: Dayton, 15, Aurora, 12, and Breanna, 9.

This was, of course, a technicality – the Browns’ plural marriage beliefs allow him to share several times – but it still had to hurt Meri a bit.

If you watch Sister Wives online, you know it was not the first issue they have had making this arrangement work, and it won’t be the last.

In addition, sister wife Jenelle‘s daughter Maddie Brown recently announced she would eschew the family’s plural marriage lifestyle.

Sister Wives Recap: Staying Afloat on the Seas of Drama

Not everything for Kody Brown, his four wives and 17 children was smooth sailing Sunday on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 7 … but is it ever?

Watch Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 7 Online

This week, the family set out to construct cardboard boats for the annual Las Vegas Pirate Festival, and there was plenty of drama on the high seas.

Kody and his wives butted heads over the creations of the paper marine vessels, as familiar tensions came to the surface during this “fun” activity.

After watching Robyn and Kody beef over the design of their team’s boat, Christine points out to her that she’s just wasting her time in the end.

“In the end… guess what? He’s going to win anyway,” Christine, slightly bitter, said. “He’s going to do it his way, anyway, 90 percent of the time.

“So why argue? Because there’s no point.”

If you watch Sister Wives online, you know the back story there, but things took a more serious turn when Kody gets a phone call from his lawyer.

Robyn’s ex is at her office, to settle the issue of giving Kody parental rights to his children, Aurora, Dayton and Breanna. And it’s done! He signed!

Kody can’t believe the family’s good fortune:

“We’re shell-shocked because we have gone so far, thinking we were going to have this major, major fight with him and all of a sudden it’s over.”

Christine summed it up best, saying:

“Meri, your divorce was worth it!”

That was mostly in jest, but Kody did divorce her so he could marry Robyn and make a legal claim to adopt her kids, so Christine is not incorrect.

The kids’ feelings were more mixed.

Aurora broke down in tears, calling it a “dream come true,” while Dayton explained that he was a bit shocked, “downright surprised and baffled.”

Of course, the battle isn’t over, either: Robyn’s ex signing off was a major hurdle, but a judge still has to be convinced to make this thing legitimate.

And that, Christine notes, likely “comes down to the judge and how he feels about plural families” … so stay tuned as the TLC hit continues!

Sister Wives Recap: Marriage Counseling Texas Style

This week, Sister Wives gave fans a lesson in “Marriage Counseling Texas Style” and also featured an episode that was “All About Christine.”

What did this double shot of the TLC favorite entail specifically?

Watch Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 5 Online

On Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 5, the Browns’ adoption drama continued with Robyn Brown revealing some troubling news about her ex.

Not just any ex, as fans who watch Sister Wives online know.

The father of her eldest three children, he been making the adoption process extremely challenging for Kody and kompany every step of the way.

He’s not making threats or anything, but refusing to meet with lawyers or be served with the necessary court papers, basically, will delay things.

You can imagine the impact on everyone’s stress levels.

The Browns remain confident Kody will be able to adopt Dayton, Aurora and Breanna despite their father’s behavior, and we hope they’re right.

For everyone’s sake. Kody had a lot else on his plate, too.

His rocky relationship with Christine Brown was another focal point of this installment, as the two were about to celebrate their 21st anniversary.

The couple took a trip to mark the occasion, and during that adventure, they paid a visit to their old friend (and therapist) Pat in Galveston, Texas.

Their current therapist Nancy is also tagging along on the trip to help them with “intimacy and communication” issues … that’s not awkward at all.

Watch Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 6 Online

Strange? Yes. But “I’ve reached a point where almost everyday is hard,” Christine says of plural marriage, jealousy and anger … so maybe necessary.

On Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 6, they were forced to act out an experiment in which they build stack of stones to represent their partnership.

Kody wants to build one based on the “value of the whole family,” while Christine sets out to build one to signify her personal romance with him.

Then Kody “bulldozes” Christine’s idea, literally and otherwise.

“In the end he’s not going to do what I want him to do at all,” Christine said of the failed experiment. “There was no way I was going to win.”

“So I tried to lose with grace,” she lamented. “Just build the tower how he wants. It was very heartbreaking and frustrating. It was awful.”

Emblematic of their issues heading into this trip? Oh yes.

However, she admitted that this helped her in a sense, in understanding why Kody’s so adamant about including the whole family in every facet.

Kody also admitted that he needs to be a better communicator, and “the greatest lesson for me is that I have to understand their pain,” he noted.

Good luck, you crazy kids.

Sister Wives Recap: Be a Daddy, Not a Warrior

Picking up where last week left off, Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 3 featured more complex family situations that are unique to Kody Brown.

Well, unless you’ve also divorced one of your wives so you could marry another and adopt their kids, but remained married to both in spirit.

In that case, you can totally relate!

Watch Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 3 Online

Oh yes, Kody had his hands full on Sister Wives Season 6 Episode 3, which is nothing new for him really, but this was uncharted territory.

His daughter Madison was readying to joining the LDS church, while his son Hunter was about to compete in a state wrestling tournament.

Most significantly for those who watch Sister Wives online, Breanna, Dayton and Aurora were about to learn if they would be adopted.

Kody says he has to remind himself to be a “daddy” during this chaotic time (like there is any other kind of time), and “not a warrior.”

It’s good advice, albeit easier said than done.

Case in point? Trying to explain to Robyn’s kids (from her previous relationship) the process behind Kody becoming their legal guardian.

Beyond the obvious emotions involved, “The biggest challenge,” Kody says, “is trying to explain” just how they are making this work:

“Somebody got a divorce so that somebody else could get married so that we could do the adoption when we’re already married.”

Fortunately, Meri stepped up to help explain more clearly, and eventually Kody asked, “Now here’s the $ 1 million question.”

“Would you guys like me to adopt you?”

The response was amazing.

“The fact that we’re getting adopted is, like, awesome,” Aurora said after literally running into his arms. “I feel like I fit in here and stuff.”

Indeed she does. [*sniff*]

Will she soon have yet another family to fit in with? Kody was also trying to convince Robyn to have a baby … and bargaining at that.

Dude even offered to get a haircut and trim down those trademark locks if she would get preg. Now that’s a deal worth making, Robyn.

For real. Look at this guy.

Jessica Simpson Trash Talks Wives Around the World

Jessica Simpson has a message for married women around the world.

Inch closer to your computer screen. Focus. Listen up. Here it is: I’ve got the sexiest husband on Earth!!!!!

That actually is what Simpson has written on Instagram in honor of Eric Johnson turning 36 years old on Tuesday.

The artist shared the black-and-white photo above on her account and included with it a caption that reads:

“My husband is hotter than yours! Happy Birthday Eric Maxwell Johnson! You forever make me lust.”

A tad bit TMI, but mostly pretty cute, no? Everyone should remain this enamored by their significant other after many years together.

Parents to daughter Maxwell Drew, 3, and son Ace, 2, Simpson and Johnson first stepped out together in May 2010 and got engaged that November.

In July 2014, the two exchanged vows in an intimate wedding at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California.

And this isn’t the first time Simpson has bragged about her attractive husband.

She let a couple photos say a couple thousands words about the couple in February when she posted some “Fifty Shades of Johnson” images that depicted her and her man in states of undress.

“I couldn’t be more in love. And he’s given me two of the best blessings I could imagine. Having a boy and a girl, I’m just blessed. They inspire me,” Simpson said on The Today Show soon afterward.