Ever since their now infamous synchronised interview recounting a fatal carjacking aired on TV, identical twins Bridgette and Paula Powers from Queensland, affectionately named the Twinnies, have had the world in a tailspin.
But it wasn’t until US late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! got in contact with them that the sisters realised they’d gone viral in a very big way.
“They contacted us and said, ‘Do you know you’ve gone viral?’” they tell Woman’s Day.
“It must have been 12 hours [after the interview aired]. We had no idea. We just can’t believe it’s gone around the world.”
UNLIKELY FAME
The pair, both 51, say they’ve been inundated with requests ever since, with Saturday Night Live just recently using their likeness in a skit, while Jimmy Kimmel has invited them over to the US to appear on his show.
Their popularity is even evident within the few hours we’re on location with them at their pelican and seabird rescue sanctuary on the Sunshine Coast as countless gawkers trawl by, either beeping their horns and calling out their names, or pulling up on the side of the road with their phones ready to capture a glimpse of the now world-famous sisters.
It’s a bewildering experience for the siblings, who despite being known in their community for their incredible work saving and rehabilitating birds, have never dealt with this level of attention before.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
“We’re getting quite a bit of conflict [online], but the good outweighs the bad,” they reveal.
Most of the commentary, they say, is to do with the way they mirror each other’s language.
“Many think that we’re putting it on, but we’ve always been this way,” they say, adding that from an early age, they had conjured up a secret language that only they could decode.
Now, they dress the same, talk the same, and yes, even sleep in the same bedroom. They’ve never even had a proper argument.
“Other twins that speak to us always say they’re jealous of us because we never fight,” they say.
“When we’re separate, we feel completely empty,” they say. “It’s like when you pull apart a magnet. It just doesn’t work.”
Professor and twins researcher Jeff Craig says the Twinnies are the closest example of “two bodies, one soul” that he’s ever seen.
“He did over 500,000 epigenetic tests on us and he found that we’re 99.9 per cent the same. Only one per cent was missing and he said that was probably in our mother’s womb,” they add.
Even though the pair dedicate all their time to saving birds, the unlikely stars are not ruling out future work in TV.
Maybe an appearance on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!?
“We’ll have to see,” they tease. “But we’re never going to lose sight of what we love and that’s the birds. If it can help with raising awareness about the birds, then that’s great. Because the injuries are only getting worse,” they add.
BIRD WHISPERERS
Growing up in Bowral in New South Wales’ Southern Highlands in a family of seven children, the Twinnies reveal they’ve always had a kinship with the animal kingdom.
“For as long as we can remember we’ve loved animals,” they say. We used to go and save the snails because our nan used to tread on them. So we’d go out and relocate them.”
And that desire to protect wildlife, particularly seabirds, only grew after they helped free an injured pelican who was caught up in fishing line.
“We just went right up to him and helped him. It wasn’t scared of us and we weren’t scared of him,” they say.
“They can just feel our energy. They know we’re there to help them. People can’t believe how calm they are in our arms.”
After working for a few of years at Australia Zoo under the late Steve Irwin, the pair branched out on their own in the year 2000, opening up the Twinnie’s Pelican and Seabird Rescue on the Sunshine Coast.
Initially focusing on their favourite species, the pelican – although they never give preferential treatment – the twins now house hundreds of injured seabirds at their three and a half acre sanctuary, working tirelessly to nurse them back to health so they can be released into the wild again.
Adorably, they’ve nicknamed each and every single bird, and can tell them all apart by just a glance.
“We just love them all. We’ve been doing it for 25 years and we can’t imagine doing anything else,” they admit.
The rescue runs entirely off donations from the public, with funds going directly to “repairs, equipment, sand and food” for the birds.
“It’s so much more than just caring for the birds. There’s lots involved.”
If you’d like to donate to help the Twinnies with their incredible work, visit their website or check out their Facebook or Instagram pages.
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