Behind the Scenes of Charli and Dixie D’Amelio’s TikTok Empire
icture this: one day you and your sister are just your average teens, making TikTok videos dancing and lip-synching to your favorite tracks. And then boom: a few months later, you have millions of followers, record labels offering to pay you to dance to their artists' latest hits, brands asking you to endorse their products, and celebs inviting you to collab. You open up your Snapchat and you and your friends have suddenly become the news, with everyone speculating about everything, from your relationships to your skincare routine. Meanwhile, you're still dealing with all the typical teen stuff: school, friends, relationship drama, your sister stealing your fave top…
It's crazy to think that just over a year ago, Charli D'Amelio started posting vids of her dancing on TikTok. Shortly after, her sister Dixie joined the app, followed by their parents Heidi and Marc, and within months, the whole fam was signed by talent agency UTA. Now, the sisters have a combined 126+ million TikTok followers, fans showing up at their house (true story), and random strangers asking for a kiss (also a true story).
That would be a lot for anyone to handle, let alone two teens who never set out to be social media stars. And yet, at just 16 and 19, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio have managed to handle their meteoritic rise — and all the attention and pressure that comes with it — without losing sight of who they are. They’re two of the most-followed people on the planet, but when they're hanging out at home, they're just two sisters, laughing at each other, finishing each other's sentences, and fighting over whose room is messier. And that's exactly what Charli and Dixie did while interviewing each other – and answering your most burning questions — for their Seventeen cover video.
Giving Seventeen a behind the scenes look at their life at home in LA (where they recently moved from Connecticut), the sisters teased each other and fought like all sisters do (their latest fight started because Dixie got mad that Charli knocked on her door "too aggressively," which, for anyone who has a sister, is both super relatable and hilarious). The sisters admitted that even though they fight a lot, they usually make up quickly. "She always steals my clothes and everything and all my jokes and stuff. She annoys me," Dixie said, only half joking. But it's clear they are also each other’s biggest supporters, and they always have each other’s backs. As Charli told Dixie during the interview, “My favorite thing about you is the way you are protective over the people you care about” — something Dixie has proven again and again while standing up for her sister.
With a TikTok famous family about to star in their own reality show, it's hard to believe the D'Amelio's fame is all by chance, but did the sisters ever imagine when they downloaded the app that their entire lives were about to change? “Even when I started to gain a following, I definitely never thought that it would be this much ever in my life,” Charli said. Before TikTok fame, Charli dreamed of becoming a backup dancer and Dixie planned to start her own business. Check. Check.
These days, the girls are doing a lot more than checking off their dreams — they're building an empire. They have brand partnerships with Morphe 2 Cosmetics and Hollister, and a podcast launching in October called Charli and Dixie: 2 Chix. Charli has turned her coffee addiction into her very own Dunkin Donuts drink called "The Charli" and has a book coming out in December aptly called Essentially Charli: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping it Real. Dixie released her first single "Be Happy", and stars in the Brat TV series, Attaway General. And of course, the whole D’Amelio family is getting their own reality show. While the girls couldn’t spill too much about the upcoming series, they did say, “We’re really excited to show you who we are as a family and our daily lives and personalities.” One thing you probably won't see are Heidi and Marc embarrassing the girls. "Everyone asks if our parents embarrass us, but I think we embarrass our parents more," Dixie said. "I've always said that. They're just cool." According to Charli, in the parental department, Marc and Heidi are a "10 out of 10".
While they've parlayed their TikTok fame into a resume full of exciting and lucrative opportunities, the girls are also determined to use their voices for good. They’ve been vocal opponents of cancel culture and are actively fighting to combat bullying and make social media a kinder place.
“A lot of people around my age, some younger, some older, are the prime ages for most types of bullying," explained Charli. "We all need to be more conscious of the things we say about people because it can really affect them…. As a society, we definitely need to be more careful with our words and make sure we are treating people with kindness.”
So how do they deal with the haters? “I have all my comments off so I don’t really get mean ones," Dixie shared. "But I usually just make a joke out of it or ignore it, because it doesn’t matter. They don’t know who you are as a person so it’s not worth my time to argue with someone or defend myself.”
Charli has admitted that the comments do get to her, especially the body shaming. In the past, she's called out body shamers, and recently opened up about struggling with an eating disorder, hoping to help anyone going through something similar. "I’ve always tried to use my voice when it comes to issues surrounding body image, but I’ve never talked about my own struggles with eating disorders," Charli shared on her IG stories. "It’s so uncomfortable to admit to even your closest friends and family, let alone the world. I’ve been afraid to share that I have an eating disorder, but ultimately I hope that by sharing this I can help someone else. I know eating disorders are something that so many other people are battling behind closed doors."
Charli and Dixie have always been open and real with their fans, about almost everything, from body image to Charli's nose surgery to their love lives. Earlier this year, both girls ended high-profile relationships. In April, Charli shared the news that she and Chase Hudson had broken up, writing: "i'm sorry i waited so long to tell you all. i wanted to take the time to process it for myself." Dixie shared something similar on her socials after splitting from Griffin Johnson this summer. "Hey, so we actually broke up but I had this video scheduled for today so I'm posting it anyway," she wrote while sharing a video of their last date. Soon after their respective splits, both girls found themselves caught up in drama amid cheating accusations. Fans rushed to take the girls' sides, calling out their exes on social media. But Charli and Dixie took the high road, asking everyone to stop hating on their exes. Still, it's clear the sisters have learned from their past relationships. Their number one relationship advice? "[Make] sure that you find someone who's loyal but really cares about [you]. I think that's really important and the foundation of a relationship," Dixie shared while smiling at her sister.
Despite the downsides of fame, like having your breakups play out in front of the world, Charli and Dixie are enjoying the ride, without taking it all too seriously. They're not trying too hard to make things happen — and that seems to be part of their magic. "Everyone always asks us what our plans are for the next year. I don’t know even know what my plan is for tomorrow. I just live day by day and I’m excited for everything," Dixie said. So what advice would they give their millions of followers who want to follow in their footsteps? "Be yourself, have fun, make mistakes,” the girls advised.
Seems easy enough, right? And maybe it is, when you have your sister by your side. Because if there's one thing that’s clear from spending a little time inside the D'Amelios world, it's that together, there’s nothing these sisters can’t do.
Photographed by: Jabari Jacobs, Hair: Laura Polko/ The Wall Group, Makeup: Kelsey Deenihan / The Wall Group, Props: Abraham Latham / Art Department, Location: Milk Studios, Production: Crawford productions, Executive Director: Kristin Koch, Visual Editor: Brenda Armendariz, Video Producer: Rachel Lieberman, Video Editor: Steve Van Clark, Motion Graphics: Kelsey Fink, Graphic Designer: Courtney Chavez, Entertainment Directors: Maxwell Losgar and Emily Hausman
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