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Australian twins recount dramatic carjacking in news interview—and speak entirely in unison

They know each other so well they're practically one person.

7News Australia/YouTube

The Powers' twins are famous for their unique way of talking as if they're one person

My wife and I like to joke that we know each other so well at this point that it's almost like we share a brain. Having spent so much time together, we can finish each other's sentences and even find ourselves having the same thoughts almost simultaneously. It's common for siblings, family members, and partners to feel like their brains are "in sync" in this way.

But most of us have nothing on an unbelievable set of twins who stumbled into viral fame when a stolen car wrecked near their home and a gun-wielding carjacker stumbled out.

The two sisters who witnessed the incident gave an interview to 7News Australia. Though their story was dramatic, it was the way they told it that made the clip go mega viral.

Throughout the bizarre interview, Bridgette and Paula Powers, who are identical twins, speak almost entirely in unison as they deliver their eyewitness account.

It's truly a sight to behold. At various points in the interview, the sisters finish each other's sentences, speak the same thoughts at the same exact time, and take turns speaking as if they were one single person. They even make the same gestures with their hands and mirror each other's facial expressions.

Lost in the mayhem is the absolutely wild story of the carjacker. If you watch the clip you'll probably find yourself so fascinated by the twins psychic connection that you hardly follow the story at all.

The clip racked up nearly seven million views on X with another 300,000 on YouTube. News outlets all over the world including Entertainment Tonight, Fox News, and Inside Edition each ran features on the web-famous twins.

It's actually not the first time the twins have gone viral for their unique speaking style. They're well known in Australia as the "Twinnies," but are relatively new to the rest of the world.

Viewers and commenters all over the Internet were absolutely stunned in the best way. Not only was the joint-speech a cool "party trick," people were touched by the unimaginable connection the two sisters share.

In a follow up interview with 9 News Australia days later, the twins again dressed and spoke in unison.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

They clarified that they always do everything together. Being identical twins means they share the exact same DNA. If their DNA is the same and their day to day experiences are almost exactly the same, you can see why they have such a strong connection. It really is like they exist as one person!

Experts say twins don't exactly have a psychic connection, although it can certainly seem like they do. The closer their DNA (exactly the same, in the case of identical twins) and the more shared experiences they have, the more likely it is that they'll have a brain synergy other people can't really comprehend. Many twins actually create their own language, a phenomenon known as cryptophasia. But even when they speak "normally" bystanders often have a hard time understanding twins' conversations because they can't anticipate each other's thoughts and sentences so well, with the conversation devolving into something unintelligible to outsiders.

The Powers sisters insist that their synchronized speaking is not an act. It's something they do together all day every day. And they don't particularly care if anyone believes them, or if people find them annoying. "If you like us, you like us. If you don't, you don't," the sisters say.

When asked if they ever get sick of each other, the answer came easily for both. "No," they said, shaking their head in unison. "We're best of friends."

And further, they're grateful for the attention, though it's not fame they're after. The twins, who are old friends of the late Steve Irwin's, run a rescue for birds and are happy for their cause to get a little extra exposure any way that it can.

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Video of sisters trying to fix a DIY haircut perfectly captures the chaos of sisterhood

“This is THE sisters experience…you captured the whole thing."

@palmview956oficial/TikTok

Sisterhood in a nutshell

Ask any group of sisters what it was like growing up with each other, and they will undoubtedly use the word chaos. Girlhood in itself is a bit of a delightfully feral time. Add yet another wild child (or more) into the mix, and you never know what’s going to happen.

But there’s also a beautiful loyalty. Sure, sisters can turn from friends to enemies on a dime, but in those purer moments, you’ll see them stop at nothing to help one another.

And it’s all these aspects, and everywhere in between, that were captured in a hilarious TikTok as three sisters banded together to fix a DIY haircut gone wrong…the day before school picture day, no less.

Let us set the stage. Eldest sister, Valentina, 15, was minding her own business, filming a GURWM (GEt Un-Ready With Me), when she is suddenly interrupted by her 9-year-old sister Khaleesi asking for the scissors.

Ever the responsible eldest, Valentina tells Khaleeis to be careful before handing them over and resuming her skincare regimen.

Not three seconds later, there’s a blood-curdling scream, as the youngest sister, Camelia, comes rushing in.

"Khaleesi cut my hair!" shouts Camelia. "Tomorrow is picture day!"

"You wanted it, bro!" Khaleesi shouts back.

The girls then hear mom ask what’s happening. Valentina takes charge and tells her little sisters to close her door (“now!”) as she comes up with a brilliant cover: "Nothing! I'm trying to find a new hairstyle for (Camelia).”

Trying to fix the chop job, Valentina looks on TikTok for bang cutting tutorials, wanting "If mom finds out, she's going to kill both of you."

That’s when 2-year old Magdalena walks in.

@palmview956oficial GURWM gone wrong.. Camelia cut her bangs Again 😡🤯 #parati #sisters #hermanas #gurwm #valentina #scissors #camelia #magdalena #bangs #fypシ #956 #palmview956 #viral #rgv #zamarripa #zamarripasisters #fail #gonewrong #letsgetto200k #rgv956 #rgvtx956 ♬ original sound - Palmview956Oficial2.0

“I'll give you a cookie!" Valentina says. (Of course this strategy works, and she is met with silence.)

Following what she found on TikTok, Magdalena twists Camelia’s bangs and gives them a quick snip. To her surprise, it actually worked.

"Wait, they're looking cute!" she says.

“I look like Taylor from ‘Summer I Turned Pretty!’” Camelia exclaims.

Remember me waxing poetic about how fiercely loyal sisters are? Well, as soon as mom walks in, the accusations about whose idea it was go flying.

The delightful clip ends with Camelia and Khaleesi being told to go show their dad, and Valentina saying “pray for them.”

Enthralled viewers couldn’t help but feel like they had just watched something akin to a “coming of age movie” and a “documentary about sisterhood.” One person even dubbed it the Latina version of “Little Women.” 100% accurate.

“This is THE sisters experience. In six minutes you captured the whole thing. Amazing, ”one person wrote.

Another noted how it particularly encapsulates the eldest sister experience, writing, “older sister fixing her hair, bringing the snitch and getting blamed for it at the end.”

In the end, it all worked out. Camelia shared in a follow-up video that her big picture day was a success, bangs and all, thanks to the help of her sisters. And we all got some grade-A entertainment.

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Family

Three grown-up brothers create the most epic Halloween photos ever with their baby sister

Patti Schmidt/Instagram

The Schmidt family's Halloween photoshoot has become an annual tradition.

Two of Patti Schmidt's three sons were already well into adulthood when her daughter Avery was born, and the third wasn't far behind them. Avery, now 5, has never had the pleasure of close-in-age sibling squabbles or gigglefests, since Larry, Patrick and Gavin are 28, 26 and 22, respectively—but that doesn't mean they don't bond as a family.

According to People.com, Patti calls her sons home to Point Pleasant, New Jersey, every fall for a special Halloween photoshoot with Avery. And the results are nothing short of epic.

The Schmidt family started the tradition in 2017 with the boys dressing as the tinman, the scarecrow and the cowardly lion from "The Wizard of Oz." Avery, just a toddler at the time, was dressed as Dorothy, complete with adorable little ruby slippers.

The following year, the boys were Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Avery was (of course) Princess Leia.

In 2019, they did a "Game of Thrones" theme. ("My husband and I were binge-watching [Game of Thrones], and I thought the boys as dragons would be so funny," Schmidt told TODAY.)

In 2020, they went as Princess Buttercup, Westley, Inigo Montoya and Fezzik from "The Princess Bride."

Patti shared a video montage of each year's costume shoot—with accompanying soundtracks—on Instagram and TikTok. Watch:

"They laugh a lot during the shoots," Patti told People. "The boys are good sports. They adore Avery."

That much is clear. How lucky is this little girl?

Middle son Patrick, who is a professional surfer, told People "It's fun, and Avery has a blast."

Patti is the one who comes up with the theme, which she surprises the kids with. This year's theme remains a mystery, though she asked followers for ideas. People offered some fun possibilities including:

- Goldilocks and the Three Bears

- "Alice in Wonderland," with the boys going as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Doormouse

- "Brave," with Avery going as Merida and the boys as her little brothers

- "Sleeping Beauty" with the boys going as the fairy godmothers

- Frankenstein's Bride, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman

- "Friends" with Avery going as Phoebe and the boys as Ross, Chandler and Joey

- "Guardians of the Galaxy"

- "Harry Potter"

Patti offered one vague clue for what this Halloween holds when she told TODAY, "There may or may not be a good-natured groan or two when I pull out the next theme." Hoo boy, can't wait to see what it is.

And yes, in case you were wondering, the brother dressed as Westley did yell "As you wish!" as he rolled down the hill.

@pattiaveryschmidt

Reply to @hmccrow Here it is with audio 😄 #bigbrothers #babysister #theprincessbride #halloween #halloweencostume

And no, the boys and Avery don't just get together for Halloween. The boys and Avery do all kinds of things together, which Patti shares on her TikTok page.

"They are close despite not only age differences but physical distance," Schmidt told TODAY. "Our two oldest sons live in different states, but they're within driving distance, and I try to get everyone together as much as possible."

Here they are teaching Avery how to skateboard:

@pattiaveryschmidt

Families that skate together… #goskateboarding #bigbrothers #familytime

Avery is a seriously lucky little girl.

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Family

These twins share almost everything — except a common gene mutation.

True
Cigna 2017

The first thing you notice when you see twin sisters Carrie and Erica together are their smiles.

They’re big and welcoming, crinkling the corners of their eyes in exactly the same way.

Yet there's one big difference between Carrie and Erica. Carrie has the BRCA gene mutation. Erica doesn’t.

If you don’t know — don't feel bad because lots of people don't — a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is one of the most common indicators that a person will get breast or ovarian cancer in their lifetime.

Watch Carrie and Erica's inspiring story below:

Her twin sister wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the preventive steps she took.

Posted by Upworthy on Thursday, June 29, 2017

"We have had a substantial family history of breast and ovarian cancers," Carrie says.  And when the sisters found out that their mom had the BRCA gene, they both decided to get tested for it too.

"I was positive and she was negative," says Carrie.

For Erica, relief at her diagnosis was short-lived. "I was also sad and nervous and upset that the two women closest to me, my mom and my sister, both had it."

Rather than worry, Carrie immediately went to work.

Together with her care providers, she arranged for mammograms and MRIs to test for breast cancer every six months, along with blood tests for ovarian cancer.

For a while, all the tests came back fine. Then, one routine MRI revealed some abnormal cells. Carrie had a biopsy to be sure, but the results were conclusive: cancer cells.

Like hundreds of thousands of other women, Carrie began cancer treatment — and she did it with her sister at her side.

"I started chemotherapy," she says. "Lost my hair, lost my appetite, lost a good sense of myself. But, you can come out the other side."

Erica and Carrie. Image via Cigna.

"Without preventive care, I probably would not be here today," she says, her voice breaking. "That's the truth."

Along with knowing her genetics, early detection helped save Carrie’s life. Now she’s not taking anything for granted.

"This could happen to anybody, no matter what age you are," she says. "I would highly suggest people go in to have regular doctor visits and to know your numbers so that you can take control of your health and your life."

Keeping an eye on your health numbers — blood pressure, blood sugar, BMI and cholesterol — can help you spot potential health problems early.

Erica agrees. "Going to the doctor is not the most comfortable thing and mammograms are not that comfortable, but I think Carrie has shown people what’s good about going to the doctor and finding out early."

As Carrie thinks about her future, she’s excited about what it holds. "I'm looking forward to having a family one day, traveling the world, and being more of a participant in this crazy, awesome life."

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