Twins are different and can have an intriguing connection
We speak to three sets of twins to find out what it's like living with another version of themselves.
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Identical twins are used to double takes and being asked twice the number of personal questions. We speak to three sets of twins to find out what it's like living with another version of themselves.
BROOKE AND ELLIE
Brooke and Ellie Kelaart have identical bouts of insomnia and their pregnancy-induced heartburn has been making them miserable. But the twist is only one of them is having a baby.
Ever since Brooke found out she was expecting a precious bundle, her joy has been mirrored by Ellie.
As well as partner Bryce accompanying her to ultrasounds and antenatal appointments, Brooke has her twin and soul sister Ellie along for the ride.
"I think this could get interesting when I'm in labour. Maybe Ellie will be asking for the drugs as well,” Brooke says.
"We have always done everything together, so being pregnant is the one thing I've done that's different.
"But she's been there for me the whole way. She said to me the other day, 'I don't have to have a baby now because I'm just going to share yours'.”
Ellie and Brooke, 25, became famous after they appeared on reality television show Beauty and the Geek. They're prominent on Instagram and recently retired from a career as trap DJs known as The Twins. These days they run boutique horse centre Elements Equestrian.
After Brooke gives birth, an event that will be attended by Ellie, the pair face what will be the first time in their lives that they've been separated.
"I am going to be taking some time off for maternity leave because we have a very physical job working with the horses,” Brooke says.
"It's going to be so weird though.”
SARAH AND ASHLEIGH
In the photos of Sarah Lyons taking her wedding vows there's a face identical to her own - ugly crying.
Despite loving her new twin-approved brother-in-law, identical twin and maid of honour Ashleigh Lyons had been inconsolable since the hens night.
"It was all because someone said to me, 'You know she isn't going to be a Lyons any more',” Ashleigh says.
"I even missed her cutting the cake because I was under the table crying.”
Her sister is now Sarah Quinn.
They have spent their entire 28 years dancing together and now own two schools called Lyons Studio.
Being twins has often helped the girls in their career, including a role in the second Inbetweeners movie and appearances on The X Factor and So You Think You Can Dance.
Then there was their well-known "bread twins” advertising campaign that ran last year for Brumby's - spruiking two loaves for the price of one.
But showbiz is a fickle beast and not everyone is after a two-for-one deal.
"We've gone for auditions before where they've said, 'Well, we don't want both of you' but then they don't choose either of us because they can't decide,” Ashleigh says.
While their dancing may be be identical, their personalities are not, Sarah says. Being one minute older than her sister, Sarah often takes the lead and sticks up for both of them.
In the past this has included breaking up with Ashleigh's no-good teenage boyfriends and advocating for their rights in a business sense.
"Say if I got a glass of lemonade and it was flat, I'd just drink it,” Ashleigh says.
"But I'd be sending it back,” Sarah says.
While they don't believe in the whole "psychic twins” phenomenon, the sisters do think their bond means they understand one another incredibly well.
"This is the best way to explain it. If you are sitting there and telling us a story at the end of it we will both have the same question for you,” Sarah says.
"But we do get sick of people asking us what it's like to be a twin. I always ask them, 'What's it like to not be a twin'?”
LUKE AND ASH
Luke and Ash Bradnam are two of the biggest voices on Queensland radio.
The brothers speak on the phone every day and reckon being a twin is the best thing that's ever happened to them.
"You hear people talking about stuff like being nervous on the first day at school, but I never had that anxiety at all,” Luke says.
"It wasn't until I was an adult I worked out why. I walked into my first day of school with a strut because I had my brother by my side.”
Before things get too mushy, there have been times when the twins have tested the strength of their brotherhood. Like when Luke stole Ash's girlfriend in high school.
"Ash tells the story this way. He swears this is the truth but I don't know,” Luke says.
"So Ash was going out with this girl Megan and he reckons I pestered him and said, 'You should be playing the field and going out with all sorts of different chicks'.
"So he broke up with her and then I started going out with her two weeks later.”
It's not the only dating escapade the twins have had. Luke also remembers the time Ash briefly dated another identical twin and he met her identical twin and put his foot in it.
"I had only met this woman for five minutes and for some reason I said to her, 'If they had kids and we had kids do you reckon they'd be identical?' She looked at me like I was absolutely crazy.”
Ash's wife Jodie and Luke's wife Cathy don't get them mixed up but the other most significant woman in their life does.
"My mum still gets us mixed up, not just every now and then but quite often,” Luke says. "I'll have whole conversations with my mum and 10 minutes in she'll say, 'How's Jodie'.”
While our sets of twins answer to each other's names, Luke says this was taken to the extreme recently at a butcher shop.
"This checkout chick says to me, 'You're the guy from the radio?' and I said, 'Yep'.
"And then she goes, 'You're the twin aren't you?' and I agreed that I was. 'Are you the successful one or the other one?'
"It absolutely shocked me for a second and I said, 'Nah, I'm the other one'.
"Then I rang Ash and we are both still arguing because we have such low self-esteem we are both still owning being the unsuccessful one.”
Originally published as Twins are different and can have an intriguing connection
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