15 Strange Details About Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen's Twin Relationship, Including Their Secret 'Twinsense'
You watched them grow up on 'Full House,' now get the scoop on what they are really like.
Instagram Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have shared a lot over the years. A role on a television show. A university. A company. Brands they've built together. That's not all they share, though.
They have so much in common and some of it is admittedly odd. But they are still our favorites, because nostalgia and adorableness. For the curious, here are 15 awkward and weird details about Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen's twin relationship that you might not know.
1. They both like older men.
They went from dating more "age appropriate" guys in high school to significantly older men down the road. Mary-Kate ultimately married a man 17 years her senior, but both girls have dated men with age gaps ranging from 12 to 34 years older than them.
The twins are into May-December year round, it appears. Whatever floats your matching boats, ladies! Love is a beautiful thing.
2. They have double dated friends.
Mary-Kate used to date Ashley's boyfriend's business partner. This kind of makes sense since they are best friends to be dating a pair of best friends. The twins ran a business together, while their boyfriends ran a nightclub together. Double dates for days!
3. They have no social media.
Both Mary-Kate and Ashley avoid social media; neither of them have Facebook or Instagram. That said, they did take over Sephora's Instagram one time. That's when the world saw their first public selfie which seems kind of crazy, but they describe themselves as "sheltered" so we get it.
It's pretty good for a first public selfie. The Olsens are gorgeous!
4. They have never shopped online. For real.
How is that even possible? Apparently, they prefer to shop in person. This makes a lot of sense because as designers they likely want to feel the fabric quality and see how it hangs on their ultra tiny frames.
5. They are really into crystals.
They gave away crystals at New York Fashion Week, black and white ones. The black ones were black tourmaline and came with very specific cleaning instructions. Because you wouldn't want a dirty rock, right?
6. They didn't like being famous.
They had dolls, movies, and merchandise galore but they hated every minute of it. To be fair, growing up under the microscope sounds really uncomfortable. Kids should be able to be kids and childhood shouldn't be twin-terrupted.
7. Some of their fashion is weird.
Take this pill covered purse, for example. It cost $55,000 and it's covered in prescription pills. Art is definitely subjective, but some thought the piece glorified prescription drug use, which seems weird coming from those cute kids from Full House.
8. They don't look that alike anymore.
Now, they aren't identical twins, they are fraternal, but there have been rumors that Mary-Kate went under the knife. We think she looks stunning either way, but they don't look quite as carbon copy as they used to.
9. There's a museum devoted to them.
For real, there is a shrine to Olsen twindom that exists! Two superfans crowdfunded the budget to open this weird tribute to the twins. It's full of paintings, exhibits (like one of Mary-Kate's quaint cigarette-filled unplugged wedding) and a phone that only takes calls from Candace Cameron Bure.
It's open by appointment because that level of worship needs planning.
10. They were accused of twin-tern abuse.
The Olsen twins settled a lawsuit about overworking and underpaying interns at their company. Accusations of 50-hour weeks with no pay made them sound like tiny tyrants, but it all worked out in the end. Thank goodness, right?
11. Sometimes they overdress for the weather.
It happens to the best of us. You forget to check the weather and suddenly you're in way too many layers and it's 92 degrees out. They are famous for swimming in layers and they make the look work, but seriously, how did they not melt?
12. They have their own language.
In a retro interview, they talked about their system to communicate in their own way, squeezing each other's hands. That isn't that surprising since being a twin is a pretty special thing, and when under observation all the time, sometimes privacy has to be created.
Everyone needs someone who just "gets" them without saying a word, and it sounds like the Olsen twins are each other's "person."
13. They didn't stay in dorms like other college kids.
When the Olsens went off to school at NYU, they bought out the top floor of a high rise for a cool $7.3 million. Being uber-famous would probably make them a target in a dorm and they likely would have no privacy, so who can blame them? Isn't that every student's dream, anyway?
14. Sometimes they talk in unison.
It happened on Oprah when they answered, "It depends" when asked who was the nicest, or the messiest. It's like they're in each other's heads. It happened again on Ellen. How cute! Jinx! You kind of expect that when you know someone twin-timately.
15. They have twin-sense.
Not like the kind you burn that smells nice, but more like the kind where you know when something is wrong because you are just SO connected. They refer to themselves as "mirror twins" and they have twin-tuition about what's going on with the other. How sweet!
They might be a bit reclusive and unexpected, but they work hard and have earned their privacy after so many years of performing in the public eye. We remember them from Full House, but even when we think of the kind of weird things about them, it's hard not to smile with a Full Heart at these beautiful, talented ladies.
Penelope Norton is a freelance writer and celeb gossip columnist who feels like her life is together when her fingers and toes match.