X Factor sensation and The Voice UK judge Olly Murs was said to be "inseparable" from his twin brother Ben growing up, but for the last 14 years, the brothers couldn't be further apart.
The pair fell out in 2009 just as the pop star was finding his pathway to fame. Olly once shared more about his estranged brother during an episode of The Voice where he became emotional reflecting back on his childhood, reported The Mirror.
"We had a big argument," the 38-year-old once said, fighting back tears, he added: "I feel like the next time I am going to see him is going to be at the worst place to see someone. It will be at someone's (funeral) that we lose in the family. I don't want that to be the case.
"I miss having my twin with me... This bond as a twin, it was something I was proud about and I still am."
Back in 2019, Olly claimed he had tried to reach out to twin Ben on their birthday only to find he had changed his number without telling him.
But what actually happened between the two and caused the brothers to be steered so far apart from each other?
It all kicked off back in 2009 when Olly didn't attend Ben's wedding and failed to fulfil his best man duties to compete in The X Factor semi-final, prompting his brother to brand him a "self-obsessed sell-out".
"Our family was torn apart because of X Factor," Ben raged in 2009. "It was clear that people like Simon Cowell were more important to him than me."
Olly confirmed the tale on The Voice, telling Will.i.am: "I was on X Factor and I couldn't make his wedding because I was on the show."
Asked where his brother lives, he admitted: "I have no idea."
However, Olly previously claimed their relationship had been strained for a long time before the ITV talent show bust up and accused Ben of using the wedding as an "excuse".
"I don't speak to my twin brother and that's been extremely difficult. Long before X Factor there were problems between Ben and his girlfriend and our family," he once told the Sunday Times Magazine.
"His wedding was his excuse for not having me in his life anymore... I don't think he ever liked us as a family."
And it wasn't just the X Factor star turned judge who Ben cut ties with, but also their parents after Ben claimed they had been changed by "fame and greed."
Ben was so keen to distance himself that he even took his wife Amy Hart's surname and reacted furiously at mum Vicky when she gave an interview about the 'learning difficulties' he experienced as a child.
Ben raged: "My parents wanted this bright, shiny Olly with the money who can give them the VIP lifestyle. They liked hanging around with Simon Cowell, or going to Bon Jovi concerts – they loved their VIP selfies.
"I'm not interested in anything like that, I have a lovely life with my wife and kids. I've worked hard, been to university and got a degree, I've never wanted anything from Olly.
"I can’t believe what my mum did by talking about my childhood. I was so upset when I read it. Why has my mum, the person who should defend me, said things that are hurtful and untrue?"
Mum Vicky said the trauma of the family fallout left her "too sick to work" and caused such serious physical symptoms that she thought she had multiple sclerosis.
"It was such a shock it made me ill. I even thought I had MS – I had to use a walking stick because my legs were so weak. I also couldn't work. I was on the verge of a breakdown," she previously told the Sunday Times Magazine.
"I'm much better now but my heart is broken. Ben's broken my heart, and his dad's, but I will not hear anything against him, I don't think he understands what he's done.
"I'll go on loving him and sticking up for him until I die."
Ben claims he had extended an olive branch to Olly following the birth of his son in 2013, but claimed his estranged sibling told him to delete his number which Olly branded as "inconsistent."
Then when he hoped to make peace in 2017, Ben declined, insisting, "I've moved on."
"I wish him all the best. But I've got my life and he's got his. The last time I made contact I got the door slammed in my face," he told the Sunday People.
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