The Dolan Twins just dropped a surprise YouTube video – so here’s why it’s been five years

If you were a teenager on the internet between 2015 and 2021, the notification that dropped on your phone on Tuesday probably stopped you in your tracks. Ethan and Grayson Dolan, otherwise known as the Dolan Twins, uploaded their first YouTube video in five years, and the internet is not okay about it.

The duo were one of the defining acts of the mid-to-late YouTube era, racking up almost 10 million subscribers with their weekly uploads, before stepping back from the platform in 2019.

Since then, a lot has changed – there have been engagements, a marriage, and a whole pandemic – but apparently, the Dolan Twins are not done yet.

What’s the video that made the Dolan Twins come back?

via YouTube

Released on Tuesday 7th July, staying true to the Tuesday upload tradition longtime fans will remember, the seven-minute short film is called The Double Take, and it was written and directed by the twins themselves.

In it, they play twin con artists pulling off a heist at a jewellery store, using their identical appearance to swap places and walk out with a Rolex. It’s slick, it’s funny, and it’s a long way from the bedroom vlogs they started with.

Ethan’s wife, Kristina Alice Dolan, is credited in the closing credits as part of the “creative research” team. They also gave a “special thanks” to their mum, Lisa Dolan, in the credits.

The fan reaction was immediate. The comments section filled within minutes. YouTube’s own account commented: “new dolan twins video in 2026??” One fan wrote it was “like running into your childhood best friend.” Another said: “Is this what getting an ‘I miss you’ text from your ex feels like?”

So why did Ethan and Grayson Dolan leave in the first place?

via YouTube

The Dolan Twins announced they were stepping back from YouTube in 2019, in an emotional video called It’s Time to Move On.

The brothers explained the relentless pressure to upload every single week had made it almost impossible to be present for his family during one of the hardest periods of their lives – the death of their dad Sean Dolan, who passed away that year after a battle with cancer.

“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 said through tears. “I could have been there more during and after if I wasn’t just trying to put a video out every week.”

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Grayson elaborated in an episode of the Deeper With The Dolan Twins podcast, saying his heart simply wasn’t in it anymore. “Seven whole years of doing the exact same thing,” he said. “There was a stretch of four or five years where we just didn’t even miss a Tuesday.”

The consistency the fans loved had quietly become something that was draining them both.

What have the Dolan Twins been up to in the five years they were gone?

via YouTube

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Ethan married Kristina Alice in 2024, and Grayson got engaged to Eleni Stamoulis.

Both have kept relatively low profiles compared to their YouTube peak, though they continued the Deeper With the Dolan Twins podcast for a period, uploading their last episode in 2021.

Is this a full comeback for Ethan and Grayson Dolan?

Nobody knows yet – and that’s part of what makes this interesting. The Double Take feels more like a creative project than a return to weekly uploads, and there’s been no announcement either way.

But the fact that they uploaded on a Tuesday, wrote and directed it themselves, and clearly put serious production into it suggests this wasn’t just a one-off nostalgia play.

It might just be that they’ve found a passion for a different style of video, and they may start uploading irregularly when an idea strikes.

Regardless, fans will be keeping their notifications on. Just in case.

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Featured image via YouTube