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The Dolan Twins announce break from YouTube in Shane Dawson interview
9 October 2019, 13:16
Fans were left wondering whether the Dolan Twins were quitting YouTube after their emotional sit-down conversation with Shane Dawson. In the video titled "It's Time To Move On", Ethan and Grayson Dolan revealed that they will stop uploading weekly and only make videos they are passionate and excited about.
Are the Dolan twins quitting YouTube? Not quite, but they are stepping back from weekly vlogging –at least for now. Ethan and Grayson Dolan's popular YouTube channel, The Dolan Twins, has amassed 10.6 million subscribers in just five years, but this week the siblings announced a big change to their channel and their lives.
In a sit-down interview with YouTube's answer to Dr Phil, Shane Dawson, the twins explained how being so dedicated to creating content on the platform has "stunted" their personal growth. Ethan and Grayson are known for posting new videos every Tuesday which they say has kept them incredibly busy to the point of burn out.
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"We have to stop posting weekly," Ethan declares around 11 minutes into the hour-long video.
Why are the Dolan Twins stepping away from YouTube?
In the in-depth conversation, Ethan and Grayson talk about not wanting to disappoint fans and the difference between their online and real-life personas.
Viewers may relate heavily to the issues discussed. Namely, their confusion about what direction to head in creatively and feeling overwhelmed with their busy schedules.
Offering some advice to the young internet stars, Shane Dawson told them to stop viewing themselves as a brand.
He said: "Never think of yourself as a brand. [...] Brands get stale, they get old, new brands come along. But if you're just yourself and you're enjoying what you're doing, that lasts forever."
The two also heavily discussed feeling they have little time to see their mother and family following the death of their father in January 2019.
The Dolan Twins also talked about losing their dad to cancer during the emotional video.
Early this year, their father Sean died after a two-year battle with cancer. The twins discussed the heartbreaking six months before their father's death, where they would fly back and forth between LA and their parents home in New Jersey at least once a week.
"If I wasn't in caretaker mode or filming mode then I was doing something wrong," Ethan says in the video. Grayson also talks about needing to hide his emotions about the situation from fans and his family.
"Had we not been filming a video every week, we would have been able to spend more time with our family around the time that they needed us," Ethan explains.
The two only took a month off after their father's death. They also say that doing so much work on YouTube has "numbed" their grieving process.
How often will the Dolan Twins post on YouTube in the future?
In the end, the boys resolved to "be in the moment" and only make videos that they're passionate and excited about. What does that mean for their upload schedule going forward?
Ethan and Grayson didn't specify whether that meant uploads every other week or even less frequently than that. The boys also revealed that they demolished their iconic set room as a part of their huge channel overhaul (so you know it's really really REAL).
Watch their video "It's Time To Move On" below.
It's Time To Move On...
I guess we'll see the Dolan Twins when we see them!
