On Dated & Related, Kaz and Kieran Bishop are identical twins on the hunt for love. But, despite being ultimate wingmen for each other, the two admit what everyone watching is likely thinking: They don’t actually look that much alike.
“We’re classed as identical twins, but we don’t share the same features,” Kieran says in Episode 1.
Now the Bishop boys are revealing why they don’t look the same, explaining the truth is a bit more scientific than what meets the eye.
“We’re identical twins because we came from the same sac — the same egg,” Kaz tells Tudum. “But we’re not mirror images because I was six pounds, and he was three pounds.” According to McGill University, differences in identical twins can happen due to DNA mutations or environmental factors, such as proximity to the placenta.
Those differences — and others that go beyond physical characteristics— are evident throughout Dated & Related. While Kieran is more outgoing and social, Kaz says it takes time for him to open up. In the premiere, Kaz brags that he’s “taller” and “bigger,” though Kieran jokes that his twin brother just has “a bigger head.”
Unfortunately for Kieran, this may have always been true, judging by their birth weights, and though Kaz is eight minutes older, he jokes that he was “adopted” — or, as Kieran quips, “dropped on his head or something.”
The brothers say they get confused reactions “all the time” when they reveal that they’re identical twins.
“Instead of going into the whole scientific stuff, we just end up saying we’re brothers,” Kieran says. “It just makes life a lot easier sometimes.”
Kaz and Kieran say they first heard about Dated & Related when Kaz was contacted via social media. Though at first he was suspicious of the opportunity, the twins ultimately decided to go into the experience with open minds. And it paid off — to avoid any massive spoilers, let’s just say that both Kaz and Kieran ended up benefiting greatly from their time in the villa.
The twins also say the show has brought them closer than ever, even though they already share a place in London.
“We definitely open up to each other more now than we used to,” Kieran says.
“I work long hours, and sometimes I’m out of the house or he’s out of the house, and sometimes we’re just in different rooms,” Kaz adds. “So Dated & Related was a time when we had to talk to each other, and it definitely brought us closer.”
Plus, the two were well-equipped to share a trundle bed, as all the cast siblings have to do on the show. Though they hadn’t split a room since they were kids, Kaz says that while living together, they’d accidentally “fallen asleep on the sofa” together from time to time.
Despite their physical differences, the identical twins hope that Dated & Related inspires other siblings to reconnect — whether they wingman each other or not.
“We’ve experienced siblings that don’t talk to each other,” Kaz says. “But you’re family. You don’t choose your family. Reach out, get in contact, stay close with them and just show love.”
