DC ExtraTime: The Kaplans Come to Dr. Phil and Get Hollywood Fooled

A Follow-Up To: The Kaplans Go Flipping 
with the Kardashians & Go Ketchup Crazy

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Last month after a midseason twist on Ex On The Beach Season 3 that saw the Exes send home an original single from Malibu, we featured The Kaplan Twins as they got to work with reality TV's most well-known family, the Kardashians. There, Allie & Lexi were asked by Kourtney's ex & baby daddy Scott Disick to design a painting of one of the three children they share joint custody with, Penelope Scotland, for his kids' penthouse on the real estate-themed spinoff series Flip It Like Disick. And this came after it was discovered that Allie had a boyfriend before she & the twin came to the EOTB villa, something that's considered a no-no for any reality dating series.

Like it has become the case for some of those who appeared on the first two seasons of the U.S. version of the global Ex franchise, there's little doubt that the Kaplans' time in the season 3 house has helped to boost their public profile thanks to not just them being on MTV and doing what they do best with painting. And in the course of the past couple weeks or so, they've added more to their resume... and like it was earlier this month, they followed in the footsteps of two of last season's alumni to the most prominent stage in all of daytime television.

Instagram @DrPhil

Back on September 30 & October 1, two-season EOTB Single Angela Babicz and her on-and-off boyfriend, Are You The One alum and Challenge Young Buck Nelson Thomas got to bring their twisted relationship drama to America's leading TV psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw. In two episodes that brought the MTV fandom to TV's most-watched daytime talk show, they got to hash out the drama that saw them break up and make up so often that, after she stormed off stage in the midst of all the drama, soon enough #Nelgela would soon get back together once again without getting help from a therapist post-taping.

More than a week after Angela & Nelson's Couples Therapy, the Kaplans were among the guests of the October 8th episode of Dr. Phil as he offered advice to those managing both their careers and lives while at the same time handling those roadblocks along the journey. As those who've been introduced to them over the past few months know, the Twins not only get to progress with their full-time passion of being artists with managing their increasing social media presence which has only increased with their time on EOTB, their cameo with Scott and their fascinating persona.

Like any other pair of siblings, they love each other so much and enjoy what they do, but like everyone else they've also have had their issues in arguing a bit and who admit to having pushed each other's buttons of late. And like what we saw with Angela & Nelson, they decided to take a trip to couples' therapy to iron things out. Lexi says, "I think it definitely helped a little bit, because this was over a period of time when we did not stop fighting every single day for two months," while Allie adds, "Sometimes, we get along and sometimes, we don't get along."

Those who watched the twins head down into the Shack of Secrets when Allie's man Max came to the villa remember the spooky moment of the Kaplans' mom and business manager, Amy Kaplan, emerge from out of the treasure chest to give them some juicy info on their relationship. The mother joined her daughters to discuss the one aspect of the twins' growing empire that they don't enjoy much, the business part, and how she handles that and the social media component... but even that hasn't dampened her kids' constant anxiety - especially when they've been targets on social media of one Marie throughout the summer.

The mom stressed her ambitions of perhaps wanting to eventually hand over the reins of Kaplan Twins manager to another person so she can just be their mom in saying to the doctor, "Being a family and then running a business together can be challenging. I struggle with how to differentiate work life from our family life because it really has all kind of melded into one." Mama Kaplan isn't alone in this predicament: Kris Jenner and the mom of the Jonas Brothers are among the notable parents who take care of their kids both on a family level and on the business one, too.

Below, highlights from the Kaplans on Dr. Phil, which also included them meeting the host backstage after taping to present him with a special painting created just for him. A notable viewer of their episode was Grammy-winning pop star Meghan Trainor, who posted a video of her watching the show in her Instagram story and showed her fans a painting the Kaplans did of her & husband Daryl Sabara. This month, Meghan did a cover of "I'll Be There For You," the iconic theme song of the sitcom Friends which premiered 25 years ago this fall - and for which Jennifer Aniston's IG pic of the cast reuniting earlier this week, Ellen Oscars style, broke the internet with nearly 14 million likes.

In our Who Are These Newbies? introduction to the Kaplans when this EOTB season began, we made mention of The New York Times article in 2005 that dubbed them the "New Olsen Twins" in their resemblance to the most iconic duo of identical twin sisters to the millennial generation. It's no surprise that Allie & Lexi have been stopped on the street many times over the years of how they look like Mary-Kate & Ashley, starting when Lexi made mention of this always present fact of theirs when she & her sister were first profiled by the Times when they were 12 years young.

IG @The_Kaplan_Twins

With that in mind, just before their Dr. Phil appearance, the Kaplan Twins' YouTube channel posted a video that brought this very thing to life... this time in the heart of the most famous district in all of Tinseltown: Hollywood Boulevard - the heart of the entertainment community in Los Angeles. The YouTube video's description reads, "Our entire lives people have always told us we look like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, aka "The Olsen Twins." In this week's video we put that to the test!!! Watch our video to see how many people fell for it and thought we were the Olsen Twins, and who was smart enough to realize we're actually The Kaplan Twins!!"

Here, Allie & Lexi decided to put on identical matching shirts, pants and a hat, and walked around the Hollywood & Highland complex (where the Academy Awards are held each year), in front of the theater where Jimmy Kimmel Live! takes place, and walk on the many stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame that adorn the sidewalks... not to mention the many street performers who enthrall tourists and locals alike every day. Below, see how many will get fooled at who they think are the Olsens but instead are meeting a pair of twins whose stock is only rising at the end of their Ex summer.

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