Fact No.1: I am an identical twin.
Fact No.2: Yes, my name is George and my twin's name is Frank. No, we're not men. If it makes you feel more comfortable, yes we were technically christened Georgina and Francesca. There are women in the world called Tyne-Lexy but George is confusing? Sure.
Fact No.3: Being a twin inevitably leads to highly awkward situations that you'd think only exist in films but somehow actually happen IRL. To the man on Marylebone platform 4, it wasn't a line I promise, you genuinely must have been on a date with my sister, not me.
Fact No.4: We perpetually get asked slightly ludicrous 'twin' questions. Like, a lot.
And although, 'Do you ever look in the mirror and think you're the other one?' tops my list for the most cretinous question posed (you can just hear the pub bants now), generally the real question on everyone's mind is a little more base than that.
Yes, we're talking sex, people.
Ok, not full on, 'Have you ever slept with the other one? What, at the same time?!' fetishised twin sex , but the fascination with being attracted to two people that look almost exactly the same is pretty undeniable.
The confusion being, how can you find one twin attractive and not the other when they technically (and genetically) look the same? As Amal and Beyoncè welcome their twins into the world I imagine they're pondering this exact debacle...
Whether or not it's an entirely warranted question (I bet Mary-Kate and Ashley never had to deal with this), it's nevertheless an intriguing one.
And one that's not all that hard to answer. As with dating anyone, twin or no, it's just about paying attention. The brain is one complicated being and contrary to the Love Island predilections for 'getting off with literally anyone in a thong bikini', it actually responds to personality nuances.
Put simply, people are unique, even twins (despite my secondary school headmaster genuinely saying the opposite - self esteem went way up that day).
Don't believe me? I could list every way that my sister and I are totally awesome one-of-a-kind unicorns but that's not great chat. Instead, I put the question to the boyfriends instead.
Are they scared by the idea of accidentally reaching out to hold hands with the wrong twin? Or is that exactly why they started dating us in the first place?
Jonathan, Dating Frank For 1 Year
'Frank and George have very similar mannerisms, quirks, and well... they do sort of look the same, so I'd be lying if I said I didn't find them both attractive.
'But it's Frank's utterly unique personality, outlook and her distinct way with words that properly attracts me to her (not to mention our mutual love of watching copious amounts of Food Network whilst smashing a Dominos Two for Tuesday).
'There's never been an accidental hand-hold and I've never had a problem telling them apart, except when they're on the phone - their voices are spot on the same which is terrifying.
'Basically, I adore George, but I'm in love with Frank. Saying that, if Frank got hit by a bus tomorrow, it's nice to know I have a (sort of) back up.'
Tom, Dating George For 8 Years
'Despite how similar they look, being twins and all, I've never really struggled with telling George and Frank apart, and the longer I've been with George, the more I have to contain my eyerolls when new people I meet find out she's a twin and ask "You're dating a twin? Oh my god! Have you ever accidentally slept with the wrong one?". No, that's never happened. Obviously.
'When I first met them, I was immediately drawn to George more (sorry Frank) and I'm not totally sure why. Definitely not because George was single and Frank wasn't... I clocked from the off that they have different noses, different eyebrows, different faces really... And now it helps that they have different hair.
'The only thing that weirded me out was when my friends tried to date Frank, which I dealt with very maturely. In my grown up brain, I decided "So my friend wants to get with my girlfriend's identical twin, which sort of means they want to get with my girlfriend? And that's not cool? And also she's kind of my sister?" But I soon got over it.'
Conclusion: Creepily similar voices don't help, but generally, dating an identical twin seems more novelty, than niche fetish.
But, less about them, more about us. What happens when you look so similar to someone else, your own boyfriend couldn't necessarily pick you out of a line up?
Frank, Actual Real Life Identical Twin
'We're at a Moulin Rouge themed party but because we're idiots we've both come as the same character. In short, there's ginger wigs left, right and centre and if you look closely there's two boozy copper tops running around with the same face.
'Out of the corner of my eye I keep noticing the wavering arm of George's boyfriend Tom almost going around my waist, but stopping just short, knowing something is a little off. They've been together for over 8 years but a heady combination of Jack Daniels, musical medleys and matching wigs has caused havoc.
'This is the problem with having the same face, it confuses people. Especially drunk people. Especially when you're wearing matching wigs and you're identical twins. But anecdotes aside, it's pretty much never an issue.
'We've essentially never fancied the same guy, our significant others are significantly different to each other and to that classic age old question of, 'Have you ever thought of swapping?' I answer you no. Because we're not cave men and it would be f*****g weird.'
I couldn't have said it better myself.
George Driver was the former Senior Beauty Editor - Digital at ELLE UK.
