Kody Brown is getting real about how his experience on Sister Wives has changed on the heels of his appearance on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. He talked about how the two shows are very different. In a way, he seems to prefer his time on Special Forces, considering the standouts for him on Sister Wives are the “criticism and backbiting.”

Kody is the star of the long-running TLC series. In the past several years, the relationships in the show imploded, and Kody’s earlier wives divorced him. So, as Sister Wives launches Season 20, Kody has only one wife. Looks like he’s realized that navigating landmines might be easier than navigating relationships.

Kody Brown is thankful for his Special Forces experience after years of filming Sister Wives

Kody’s name was a surprise when he was announced on the Special Forces cast. But he told PEOPLE that the two shows are very different and that contrast is something he’s grateful for.

“I really appreciated the difficulty of Special Forces because it was very life-affirming,” he explained. “You accomplish a task, very difficult, with other people, and there’s a camaraderie you develop for it.”

He added, “Sadly, Sister Wives has really become an experience of criticism and backbiting. The experience with Special Forces was life-affirming in the sense that I got so much out of it, almost like a pivot away from my life, my real life.”

So Kody found it easier to complete difficult physical and mental military-style challenges than navigate his marriages. That actually sounds about right for him. Despite rubbing a few other contestants the wrong way, Kody was kept too busy on Special Forces crawling through mud or rappelling out of a helicopter.

The Brown patriarch shared his biggest takeaway from Special Forces was advice from veteran Rudy Reyes. “He said, ‘What are you doing that you should not be doing, and what should you be doing that you are not doing?’ It’s a lesson I’ve started applying in my life. I could have used this 10 years ago.”

Perhaps if he had applied this years ago, maybe his marriages wouldn’t have broken down. Christine and Kody divorced in 2021. The year after, Janelle confirmed their separation, and then days later, his marriage to Meri was also finally over.

Now, Kody is left with Robyn and is navigating whether or not to add another wife to the mix. Here’s hoping what he learned from Special Forces makes him a better person.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs on Fox on Thursdays at 9/8c and Sister Wives airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TLC.