Season 19 of TLC show Sister Wives has been full of drama, to say the least. By this point in the show, the family has completely fractured, and the once-patriarch Kody Brown finds himself at odds with many of his former wives.

Recently, viewers of the reality TV show have noticed a strange tactic that Kody may be using this season. Eagle-eyed fans spotted a sign that could possibly show that, despite how he carries himself, Kody may be harboring some major insecurities as he continues to feud with his family.

Viewers Think Kody Is Using Lifts In His Shoes

A major part of each Sister Wives episode features moments of the cast members sitting and talking to the cameras. This is a way for each of the family members to share about how they’re truly feeling about a situation without having everyone else in the earshot. Occasionally, an individual’s full body will be visible in the camera shot. This is when fans have started noticing that Kody might be wearing heeled shoes that make himself seem taller than he actually is.

In a Reddit thread discussing Kody’s “secret,” one viewer expanded on their theory:

Other users chimed in with support for the theory, saying they’d noticed that Kody drew up short compared to his adult children. One commenter even expressed that they clocked how, in one family photo, Kody appeared to be standing on his tippy toes so he’d be level with the others. It seems that while Kody may be claiming to be more than six-feet tall, in reality he might be more like several inches shorter than that.

Fans Are Turning Against Kody

Though this may not seem like a huge deal on its own, the fact that Kody has become so combative this season has made him appear less favorable on-screen. In particular, the fight over the land of Coyote Pass has brought out Kody’s aggresive side, not to mention that it touches on the pre-existing tension that he has with his ex-wife Janelle.

Both Janelle and Meri have separetely spoken about the stress of the land dispute, and in the teaser for the upcoming second half of the season, Meri revealed that if things continue this way, she may have to resort to legal matters. That is, if they can’t come to an agreement with Kody soon, all of them may end up in court to solve the issue.

This is all to say that Kody hasn’t been portrayed in the best light in Season 19 thus far (or perhaps in many of the more recent seasons, depending on who you ask). Thus, when it comes to something like faking his height, fans are reading more into the gesture, arguing that it signifies something deeper about Kody’s personality and the way that he thinks about himself compared to his other family members.

Some users on the Reddit thread posited that Kody was self-conscious of the fact that some of his own children were taller than him, causing him to wear shoes with a thick heel to try to hide the difference. “I feel like Kody especially resents his kids with Christine because they are tall. Like Paedon is who Kody thinks he looks like,” observed one commenter.

Still others pointed out that Kody “suffers from short man syndrome,” meaning his insecurity over his height causes him to be more aggressive emotionally, trying to exert control wherever else he’s able. One user seemed to summarize the general feeling about Kody using heeled shoes to cheat his actual height:

One viewer had an entirely different theory — that of a man who, after 19 seasons, is simply worn down. “At this point in his life, I really don’t think he’s wearing the shoes for lifts,” they wrote. “He’s tired, his life fell apart in front of the whole world, most of his kids don’t talk to him and his youngest stays up nights swinging from the chandeliers. I think he’s about comfort and survival now.”

The second half of Season 19 of Sister Wives resumes on TLC on April 20th.