‘All my boyfriends wanted to hang out with Rosie’
ROSIE, 29, near right, is an artist; SPADGE is a copywriter. Rosie is single, Spadge is married.
SPADGE SAYS As a child, I definitely erred on the side of the Disney princess. But if there was football on TV, or F1 racing, Rosie would be really into it. I’d just yell, ‘What is this? I want to watch Disney films!’
We’ve always been incredibly close. We went to the same school, the same university and now we live about ten minutes from each other. We’re constantly popping over to each other’s houses. Because of this, our bond is extremely tight. There was even one time in ➤
school when Rosie got hit in the face with a rounders bat. We met in the nurse’s room because I’d had a nosebleed. We call it ‘twintuition’.
All my boyfriends wanted to hang out with Rosie because she had more in common with them than I did. She gets on well with my husband Rick; they both like Marvel and weapons – I couldn’t be less interested!
However, I was so surprised when Rosie came out and, actually, a bit mad at myself for not realising earlier. She is someone I am supposed to know better than anyone. But then a lot of things started to make sense. That was why she wasn’t interested in boys. That was why she liked the things she liked. It was quite surreal. I thought, ‘Hang on, this isn’t something I’ve ever considered before. Am I gay?’
I’ve since read more about sexuality and I think its roots might be hormonal: potentially the amount and type of hormones that are absorbed in the womb when twins have separated but are still taking in things from their mother. It’s all to do with epigenetics. Sexuality is like an orchestra – you can turn different sections on and off until you get a different sound. That’s how I like to think of us – we’re like remixes of the same song. ROSIE SAYS The best thing about being a twin is that you’ve constantly got a partner in crime. I’ve always been a tomboy. I loved football and motorbike racing and I thought for a long time that I was just asexual because I had no interest in any sort of relationship. I had lots of male friends and I’d play football or video games with them, whereas Spadge started talking about boys in a different way. She was obsessed. I began to think, ‘Hang on – I don’t feel the same way.’
When I was 18, I went to college to do an art foundation course. There was a bisexual girl there and I was strangely intrigued by her. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to be her or be with her. She wasn’t giving me any attention and it felt like the worst thing in the world. I remember Spadge listing all the boys we knew, trying to guess who I was upset about. Then I just burst out: ‘It’s not a boy!’
I want to find out what determines sexuality, and I have lesbian friends who feel the same. I’m not looking for a ‘cure’. When people say, ‘If they find out what causes it, they can get rid of it,’ it offends me. We just want to understand attraction and where it comes from. I agree with Spadge that it might be down to hormones. I’ve been on medication that’s affected my sex drive. I realise that it can change, on a day-to-day basis, what you want from life. I’m just happy to help find answers.
I LIKE TO THINK OF US AS REMIXES OF THE SAME SONG”