“I could see it coming. I don’t think Christine’s been genuinely — what I call genuinely happy — since day one,” Decker said during a Friday, November 5, appearance on the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” podcast. “It’s kind of impossible to have a marriage when you’ve got a division like that for women — five [wives], whatever it’s going to be, and a lot of children. That’s not a partnership. It’s not a real marriage. And so I’ve just felt bad for her and others from day one. As well, I was in [a plural marriage in the past]. So I had to support that way back when, but it still breaks my heart. I don’t think any women are genuinely happy in that.”

Decker, who is not in contact with Christine, 49, assumed that her niece’s problems with Kody, 52, stemmed from his relationships with his other wives, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown.

“I think that as soon as another wife comes into the family, the night the whole dynamics change, the marriage is never going to be the same or the relationship,” she explained. “As soon as my husband took a second wife, our marriage was never the same, and it was never going to be. So, I think things start falling apart pretty fast. And it just takes time and over the years for women [like] Christine to get stronger and find out this isn’t what she wants and she doesn’t have to do it. And, ‘I’m going to get out of here.’ And yes, Robyn coming into the family definitely threw another wrench in there and heartaches and depression. No one wants to have their husband having sex with another woman and having children with them and on and on.”

Decker suggested that Christine likely stuck around because she “believed” she had to. However, the cracks in the system became apparent.

“The feelings that Christine and the other women are finally starting to show after all this time — and it started a while back,” she noted. “I was grateful that some of the truth was coming out in the show about the hardships of polygamy, but for the longest time, they were glamorizing it, and it just wasn’t real.”

Decker hopes that Christine will now abandon the entire framework of polygamy and “find genuine happiness.”

Christine announced her split from Kody on Tuesday, November 2. “After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave,” she wrote via Instagram. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family. At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness as we navigate through this stage within our family.”

A source told Us Weekly earlier this week that the breakup was “no shock” as Christine had “been in the process of leaving him for a while.”

“The big reason why she split from him is because Kody has been completely devoted to Robyn for the past five or six years,” the insider added. “That hasn’t changed at all.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Erin Crabtree