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Compared to most siblings, identical triplets the Dahm sisters have obviously got much more in common. So when they decided to take a DNA test, the triplets were expecting entirely parallel results of theirs. But what happened came as a stunning surprise…
It was December of 1977 when the world was blessed with the Dahm triplets named Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn. It’s rare to have identical triplets, especially in the small Minnesotan town, with a population of fewer than 30,000 people, where they grew up. The three girls with their gorgeous blonde hair and sweet blue eyes, who all enjoyed dressing up similarly, have got lots of attention since they were quite young.
The Dahm girls were encouraged to venture into the modeling industry for which they were the perfect fit, but generally, small-town girls could hardly get such opportunities. Luckily for them, at the age of 16, the triplets got a chance to participate in a contest named The Great Model Search run by Teen Magazine. And they won and graced the front cover, which was their debut as models.
To people’s surprise, the girls had not intended to stick with modeling when they finished high school and started planning their future careers. Instead, they meant to attend the University of Minnesota as Nursing students together at the very beginning. However, sometimes the plans keep up with changes. Their lives were to be changed forever thanks to a flyer on campus.
It was an advertisement for Playboy that called out “Girls of the Big Ten special edition”. It was a big opportunity that the triplets could not pass up, but would it be worth it? Struggling over the decision for a long time, the Dahm girls eventually decided to go for the fantastic chance with encouragement from their parents. Besides, they had each others’ backs for support. “We would never have done this as individuals,” Jaclyn shared. At that time, they had totally no idea what modeling would lead them to…
Once playboy came out with the triplets spread, the Dahm sisters became real stars. They committed themselves to pursuing careers in the entertainment industry in LA, and offers flooded in for the girls. They showed up in a myriad of TV shows and movies, such as “Boy Meets World”, “Juwanna Mann”, and “House Wars”. They even took home a prize of up to $10,000 with their father and elder sister in “Family Feud”! They also joined an episode of Fox Network’s “Renovate My Family”, which changed their lives once again, especially Erica’s.
Erica met the host of the show, Jay McGraw, who is Dr. Phil’s son. “Jay knocked on our trailer door and asked to watch a movie…He came in, and we started talking,” She recalled. “He made some funny jokes and from then on I couldn’t fight it. It was love at first sight.” And this chance meeting with Jay McGraw would exactly be what led the Dahm girls to their surprising DNA test results…
Both Jay and his father, Dr. Phil, are the producers of the TV show “The Doctors” which features a panel of doctors discussing various health and medical topics. After he got married to the middle triplet in 2006, he came up with a brilliant idea of inviting the Dahm sisters to their show. For the audiences were keen to hear these three beautiful girls talk about their interesting medical experiences as triplets.
The triplets did help tremendously with the show ratings, especially when they all got pregnant at the exact same time. (It wasn’t just Erica who found her happily ever after, Jaclyn and Nicole both married their Prince Charmings soon after.) They gave birth to their first-borns, which all turned out to be all girls. If all that had happened to that point were just one coincidence after another, it could only be called as a miracle that their second-borns - all of which were sons - were all born in March 2017!
“It must be that triplet bond,” Jaclyn assured everyone in an interview with Playboy, “It’s weird how fortunate and lucky we’ve all been.” At around the same time, the concept of tracing ancestry using a DNA test was growing in popularity. As a result, the Dahm sisters decided to try DNA test kits produced by the company 23andMe during an episode of “The Doctors”. No one expected to be surprised by the results originally, however, what happened shocked everyone…
During the first part of the reveal, the genetic tests showed that Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn were identical triplets, which was not news to anyone. It’s obvious that these three girls have more in common than most siblings and Erica was even able to open Nicole’s safe - their fingerprints were so similar to each other’s that they could even fool technology!
Nevertheless, things took a strange turn when the result was revealed concerning their ethnic backgrounds. The test claimed that Nicole was 18% Irish and British, while Erica was only 16%. What’s more, when it came to French and German ancestry, Nicole only had an 11% heritage, Jaclyn was 18%, while Erica was 22.3%! The results were shocking and more than a bit confusing!
How could this possibly be? One of the hosts, Dr. Travis Stork, expressed his doubts over the test as it seemed to him more like a marketing gimmick, rather than a scientific experiment. “Inside Edition” journalist Lisa Guerrero chimed in too, but she admitted that she herself was interested in trying it out, as it had piqued her curiosity. Despite not being 100% accurate, the at-home DNA test kits provide people with great insights into ancestry.
Let’s get back to the Dahm triplets though. The three girls never expected such surprising test results regarding their ancestry to be revealed on live television. They also never expected that they would come so far from their early days of modeling for Playboy. “The best part of it all is that we are all able to take on our amazing journeys together,” noted Erica.
But not every event in the Dahm sisters’ lives has been good. The downside of living such a public life is that there are always hurtful news stories about them. Erica and Jay have been continually battling with divorce rumors, even though they have a happy marriage. It’s a problem faced as well by Jay’s parents, Dr. Phil and his wife, Robin. Perhaps it is the price you must pay for fame.
Now parenthood and family life has taken over, the Dahm triplets have laid low and shied away from the limelight. It must be a relief after being the center of attention for such a long time. But whatever they plan to do in the future, there’s one thing for sure: they might shy away from the spotlight themselves, but the spotlight will keep chasing them.
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