Inside Niki And Gabi DeMartino's Rocky Relationship
In 2012, the YouTube channel Niki and Gabi made its debut with their very first video "Demi Lovato Inspired Curls Tutorial." At the beginning, both twins made videos separately, sharing what viewers would later realize were their very different personalities. Tutorials, hauls, and closet tours introduced the DeMartino twins to the world.
However, as the channel continued to grow, Niki and Gabi began doing videos together, the first of their collabs being "A School Day Vlog," showing the twins during a normal high school day. Nowadays, the Niki and Gabi channel focuses mostly on collabs for games, challenges, and mini series.
The DeMartino twins have been sharing their lives online for a decade, giving followers an inside look at various facets of their day-to-day. This has allowed many to notice how their relationship has evolved throughout the years, including some tragic events they've experienced. A relationship between siblings can be tricky, and unlike some, Niki and Gabi DeMartino have navigated their rocky relationship in the public eye.
Niki felt like a loner after Gabi moved out
As many people are aware, twins share a special bond. Just because they may look alike (or even think in similar ways) doesn't mean they never disagree, however. Fans of Niki and Gabi DeMartino began to notice the strain in the sisters' relationship through their individual channels. In 2019, Niki posted a video on her personal channel, "I'm Living in Someone Else's Shadow," discussing how she felt after Gabi moved out without telling her. "I knew why she did what she did, but it didn't make it hurt any less," Niki explained. Although she understood why her twin had made the choice, it hurt her to find out through a fancy vlog.
Everyone saw them as a combo, and it seemed like Niki did too. In the same video, she shares how she began feeling like a loner. Gabi had moved out and was starting a different life in which their duo wasn't the focus point. "I was never a loner, and I was never living in isolation because I had a twin sister. And then I think once Gabi started to form her independence and break off from me, I think I did start to become a loner a little bit."
Niki and Gabi talk to Gabbie about their issues
There will always be YouTube feuds as content creators continue to grow, but no one would like to see an ongoing feud between twin sisters. Niki and Gabi DeMartino have been very open about the issues in their relationship, particularly when they sat down with YouTube star Gabbie in their video "The Real Reason We Don't Get Along." They both felt like Gabbie was the best person to intervene because she knew both sides of the story, since she has been friends with both sisters for a long time. The video goes back and forth between Niki and Gabi sitting one-on-one with Gabbie and opening up about their rocky relationship.
On one hand, Gabi admits, "I kind of just wrote her off as a mean person," referring to her twin, and how everything she does seems to upset Niki. She also mentions she wanted Niki "to stop putting the blame on me for everything."
On the other hand, Niki opens up about needing her sister, saying, "seems like she feels like she doesn't need me the way that I feel like I need her." But one of her biggest issues seems to be the constant comparisons and put downs she received from Gabi's fans: "Her specific fans commenting on my stuff, calling me the Ashlee Simpson to the Jessica ... They always say there is always one more dominant twin. Gabi is the Cole Sprouse, Niki is the Dylan."
Niki and Gabi's collab YouTube pause
Although they started as Niki and Gabi, they began focusing more and more on their individual channels. This change in content creation culminated in a Niki and Gabi channel pause from November of 2020 –- with their last video being "Black Friday Haul 2020!" –- until March of 2021, coming back with "We're Back & Where We've Been." In the months between videos, both Niki and Gabi continued to grow their personal channels, showing people what their lives looked like and what they were up to. Gabi got engaged and Niki grew her music career. Even though they were still in front of the camera, they weren't doing it together, and viewers began to wonder why.
Their comeback video gave an explanation as to what had been going on. "We have tried to film this video three times," Gabi said as they both sat in their headquarters in front of a camera without challenges, games, or disguises. The video had a very emotional tone as she showed her hand shaking over how nervous she was to do it. The main reason for the video was to explain why they decided to take a break from filming together and why it was time to come back as the duo everyone knows and loves. "There was a lot going on behind the scenes that led to everything that led to our break," explained Niki.
Halloween crisis and OnlyFans drama
The DeMartino twins are loved by fans because of their videos, but the content that mostly attracts their followers are their mini series or reality shows. On Halloween of 2021, they posted the first episode of what Niki called Twin-O-Ween, followed by part two in November. During the second part of the series, tensions were high between the sisters as the party date was getting closer and Gabi was freaking out, wanting to cancel the party. This desire to put an end to everything they had been planning enraged Niki.
Fans witnessed the arguments between Niki and Gabi and, although the party did happen, were left wondering how the relationship was going. Luckily, Gabi addressed the concerns on her vlog, "answering the questions i've been avoiding." To followers' relief, Gabi clarified, "Niki and I have been working on our relationship as sisters," and then shared how her sister now uses one of her shorts as replacement for the blankie Gabi's assistant threw away.
In late 2020, Gabi faced another crisis after posting a nude childhood photo to her OnlyFans account. Her account was deactivated, and backlash was swift. In the midst of the scandal, Niki posted to Instagram, writing, "Many of you know the situation my sister is in. She knows that she made a mistake, and she's owned it and is facing the consequences." Gabi put up an apology video, saying in part, "I'm so truly sorry ... it was definitely a huge ... lack of judgment."
Emotional card game gives insight into their relationship
Another type of video that keeps the fans coming back is when the twins play games answering questions. In June 2022, they posted a video on their joint channel playing an emotional card game that had them answering questions from a card or making up their own questions. During the 12-minute-long video, Niki and Gabi are seen answering deep, emotional questions that allowed their fans to get an insight on their relationship and their struggles both as sisters and as individual people, everything from Gabi's canceled engagement to Niki's fears.
In the video, Niki admits, "We're scared of being alone," while Gabi says what she believes is holding Niki back the most in life: "Your desire to try and please audiences, family members, friends, relationships. I feel like you never just sit there and you're like, 'why don't I just put myself first?'" These question-and-answer sessions display a refreshing honesty that resonates with fans. Rocky or not, these twin sisters are bonded for life.