Dylan Sprouse says research into his family history revealed an unexpected connection between his mother’s and father’s families dating back to the late 1800s.
According to TMZ, the actor discussed the discovery on Tuesday’s episode of the “Wildmen” podcast, explaining that members of the two families had married in California generations before his parents met. Dylan said the families subsequently went their separate ways before his parents unknowingly brought them together again through their marriage.
He recalled immediately calling his twin brother, Cole Sprouse, and sending photographs connected to the discovery. However, Cole apparently had little interest in examining them. “He goes, ‘Not looking at that,’ closed it, hung up on me,” Dylan said. The discovery followed Dylan’s research into the prevalence of twins on both sides of his family. He said his mother’s family had seven sets of twins across four generations.
Dylan approached the subject with humour, joking about his appearance and using a provocative description of their ancestry. However, the account provided does not establish how closely, if at all, his parents are biologically related. Marriages between members of two families in earlier generations do not, by themselves, establish shared ancestry between a later couple.