While twins are unique enough, triplets are considered even more special because they are statistically even more improbable. If the triplets also happen to be stunningly beautiful, intelligent, and charming women, things can get extremely interesting.
In the case of the Dahm triplets, the public considered them so fascinating that it resulted in an unexpected fortune. Today, these celebrities have a net worth of about $12.5 million, earning their fortune through a surprising assortment of ways.
Unexpected Career Success
Interestingly, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn didn’t set out to become wealthy and well-known. In fact, they planned on ordinary lives and sensible careers. Growing up in Jordan, Minnesota, they wanted to get into Nursing after enrolling at the University of Minnesota.
But in 1998, everything changed for them rather dramatically. Discovered by Playboy, they posed nude in the magazine and featured in its centerfold posters.
A year later, they debuted as actresses in the sitcom, Boy Meets World, which chronicled the adventures of Cory Matthews, a character hilariously played by Ben Savage.
After this TV series, they transitioned to Renovate My Family, a reality show where host Jay McGraw introduced viewers to families who desperately needed help with home renovation. Besides later starring in episodes of Family Feud and House Wars, they also participated in the game show, 1 vs. 100.
Big Media Attention on The Doctors
Still, the sisters got their biggest career break when the appeared in The Doctors, a talk show hosted by real doctors.
They first appeared in The Doctors to discuss their unusual pregnancies: they had all became pregnant at around the same time. But the media attention they attracted, paled in comparison to another episode on The Doctors when they took a DNA test. This appearance sparked a large amount of interest because they each got startingly different information about their ancestry. The episode debunked a popular myth about genetics, one, perhaps, popularized by high school science textbooks that claimed that twins and triplets shared identical genetic information.
Dr Travis Stork, the host of the show, began it by asked the triplets a provocative question: how would they feel if they didn’t share the same ancestry.
Nicole sensibly pointed out that such an outcome seemed highly unlikely. After all, since they had all emerged from a single egg, their DNA would not be very different. Consequently, they would probably all share the same ancestors.
The DNA tests the triplets took looked at the differences between their autosomal chromosomes, differences based on SNPs, specific DNA regions that provide genealogical information. People who are closely related share the same differences in genealogy. The triplets, for instance, shared the same shade of blue eyes.
The test the triplets took was known for its remarkable accuracy because it used centiMorgan (cM) units. These are not simple units like, say, millimeters, but an exacting mathematical formula for measuring genetic distance.
Given the accuracy of DNA testing, the triplets were shocked to discover that they had different ancestors. Nicole was 18% British and Irish; Erica, 15% British and Irish; and Jaclyn, 19% British and Irish. But the surprises didn’t stop there–Nicole turned out to be 11% French and German while Erica had 23% French and German ancestry.
The show attracted considerable media attention because it revealed two little-known facts about genetic testing: one, DNA testing is far more precise than most people credit, and two, hereditary information is a far more surprising than most people assume. Although all three triplets came from the same egg and shared the same DNA, they each had different ancestry.
The Triplets Today
Although the triplets still hang out together, it’s not as much as before. They now spend more time with their respective families and child-raising. Currently, they don’t have any plans of returning to the modeling or television work that made them rich and famous.
