By Lionel Arkin – September 12, 2019
The Gorgeous Dahm Triplets
Obviously have much more in common than most siblings do, so when they decided
to take a DNA ancestry test, the triplets expected their results to be almost the same. Shockingly, something else revealed in the tests that completely stunned the sisters.
Three Times a Charm
Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn Dahm were born on December 12, 1977, and in that order.
From the moment they came into the world, all eyes were on them.
People called them the most beautiful triplets.
The triplets were inseparable and identical. Even their parents couldn’t tell them apart. They said they looked so much alike when they were born that their parents had to mark special dot tattoos on their bottoms so they could tell them apart. Nicole has one tattoo since she was the first out of the womb. Erica has two and Jaclyn has none. The girls had
a lot more than looks in common, which proved to be confusing for friends and family.
A Triple Threat
Early on in their lives, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn got a lot of attention for their good looks and their identical appearance. They grew up in a small town in Jordan, Minnesota and attended the public high school in the area. The triplets could not help but completely stand out in their small midwestern town. After all, the town’s population was less than 30,000! The girls were quickly recognized by friends and modeling agents for their outstanding beauty.
Everything Times Three
Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn did absolutely everything together when they were growing up. They were rarely recognized as individuals. In an interview — the oldest triplet Nicole shared, “We rarely had our own identity. We were always known as ‘You three’ or ‘The Triplets.’” Growing up together, they shared everything. They wore the same clothes, played with the exact same toys and had the same friends, which could sometimes be challenging and a lot to navigate.
Model Behavior
It is no surprise that the triplets got into modeling when they were young. No one could deny their beauty individually, and the fact that their good looks were multiplied by three was exceptionally intriguing and alluring. At just 16 years old, the triplets graced the cover of ‘Teen magazine. Readers could not help but gaze at their beautiful blue eyes and their long blonde hair.
The Road to Modeling
The triplets did not plan on sticking with modeling after high school. After senior year, Nicole, Jaclyn, and Erica enrolled in nursing school at the University of Minnesota. One day, while they were roaming around campus they spotted a flier advertisement for a magazine that called for “Girls of the Big Ten special edition.” The Triplets decided to try
it out and see if they had a chance at making it. They had no idea what it would lead to.
Willing to Bare It All
Once the Dahm sisters talked to the casting agent and revealed that they were triplets, everything changed. Things started moving fast and Nicole, Jaclyn, and Erica were accepted to try a test shoot. Before they decided to try modeling, all three sisters had
to make some big decisions. Would they each be willing to de-robe and bare it all for
the public? Still, they never expected to become the first triplets to grace the monthly centerfold.
They Would Have Never…
Before the shoot, the triplets never planned on modeling full time! Back in 1998, the youngest triplet Jaclyn said that she and her sisters “would never have done this as individuals.” The Dahm sisters had no idea what types of opportunities it would lead
into the future. Back in the 90s, the Dahm sisters never expected that modeling would eventually lead them to a revealing DNA test.
The Centerfold
Once the magazine came out with the triplets spread, the three sisters became real stars! All of the sudden, opportunities opened up for Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn. The young women dropped out of nursing school to commit to pursuing careers in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Erica recalled, “Modeling started my life.” She continued,
“It started all three of our lives. I would never change it for the world. It created the journey that we’re still on. It’s an amazing experience that I will never give up.”
Triplets Meet World
Once the triplets moved to Los Angeles, opportunities started popping up everywhere.
The Dahm Triplets typically played the role of the unattainable and beautiful triplets. They even made it onto an episode of Boy Meets World. In the episode “The Honeymoon is Over,” the triplets played three beautiful women that live in the dorm room adjacent from Eric and Jack. The identical sisters also scored roles on Family Feud with their older sister Lisa and their father and ended up winning $10,000!
Famous Bodies
The triplets took advantage of all of their opportunities. After they won an episode of House Wars, the Dahm sisters were hired on the Fox reality show, Renovate My Family. Dr. Phil’s son, Jay McGraw was the host of the show and took a romantic interest in the middle triplet, Erica. Erica recalled, “Jay knocked on our trailer door and asked to watch
a movie…He came in, and we started talking. He made some funny jokes and from then on, I couldn’t fight it. It was love at first sight.”
The Dahm Sisters on the Doctors – Bing video
Once Erica got together with Jay McGraw, other opportunities revealed themselves to the three sisters that would lead to a surprising DNA test. Jay McGraw, Dr. Phil’s son is one of the executive producers on the popular show The Doctors. The show features a panel of doctors that discuss different medical issues on public television. Oftentimes, celebrities will be featured on the show to add to the discussions and give opinions on certain health matters.
Health Issues
Jay McGraw finally married Erica Dahm in 2006 and had a great idea to feature the triplets on his show, The Doctors. Everyone loved to watch the three sisters and had
many questions about their health and life as triplets.
Plus, all 3 sisters were easy on the eyes which always makes for great television.
The Dahm triplets started making regular appearances on the show talking about
issues ranging from fertility to motherhood.
Then The Doctors decided to try something out.
Adding Three More
The triplets helped tremendously with the show ratings, especially when they all got pregnant at the exact same time! The end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 proved to
be big years for the show and for Erica, Jaclyn, and Nicole. The Dahm triplets literally do everything together. They even carried babies during the same time period. Fans could not help but be completely intrigued, and the producers of The Doctors took, even more, interest in the women and wanted to try something out!
An Investigation
It is crazy to think that all three sisters got pregnant within weeks of each other. In an interview, Jaclyn, the youngest Dahm sister, assured, “It must be that triplet bond. It’s weird how fortunate and lucky we’ve all been.” After a triple pregnancy, all three Dahm triplets gave birth to daughters in 2010! After Nicole, Jaclyn, and Erica had their three beautiful baby girls and got settled into motherhood, producers from The Doctors called them again in March 2017 with an interesting idea.
A Strange Request
In March 2017, the producers of the popular show The Doctors, including Jay McGraw (Dr. Phil’s son), approached the Dahm triplets about participating in a new episode of the show. This time the episode would have a different kind of theme. The Doctors wanted to team up with Lisa Guerrero, a journalist from Inside Edition to investigate how reliable an at home DNA ancestry test is. The results from the DNA completely shocked the Dahm triplets and all of the viewers.
Shocking DNA
Over the last couple years, DNA tests have become increasingly popular. The more recent advent of at-home DNA ancestry tests have completely exploded in the market. People are desperate to know about their DNA and where they really come from. That is why websites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe have become much more well known. These websites and others offer at-home DNA tests at very reasonable prices. Many companies promise to help customers find out what ethnicities they are made of.
Easy Access
Nowadays, finding out about your DNA is not so complicated. Sometimes companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe even help customers track down long lost relatives. All you have to do is order a special saliva kit that comes to your door. In order for their triplets to find out more about their backgrounds, they have to give a sample of their saliva to one of the companies. Once the company receives the saliva, the triplets DNA is analyzed against many other genetic markers.
The Big Reveal
Just a few couple weeks after the triplets give their DNA to the company, they can find out the results of the DNA tests. Theoretically, the triplets should have almost identical DNA and The Doctors and Lisa Guerrero, the journalist from Inside Edition, were ready to see how reliable the tests were. The triplets offered a perfect way to test the validity of the saliva test. Lisa Guerrero had many suspicions about the reliability of the DNA tests.
They Never Expected This
Back when Erica, Jaclyn, and Nicole were shooting centerfold spreads, they never thought they would get an opportunity like this. They were just three young girls from a small town in Minnesota. They thought they would become nurses one day. Never in a million years did they imagine they would be modeling and guest starring on many reality TV shows. They also never thought they were on The Doctors discovering strange things about their DNA.
Surprising Results
The Dahm triplets were happy to take part in this DNA experiment.
Since the three women had wanted to be nurses in the past, they were still fascinated by genetic testing and wanted to help improve the system. But still, they did not expect to be surprised by the results of the saliva tests. Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn submitted their saliva tests to 23andme. The results would be revealed to them in a live episode of The Doctors in March 2017.
How Could This Be?
The first of the genetic tests from 23andme was meant to show if Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn were, in fact, identical triplets. And guess what? The Dahm triplets are identical! This was not news to anyone, especially not Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn. It is pretty obvious that these sisters have more in common than most do. These triplets are so alike that Erica can open up Nicole’s safe because their fingerprints are so similar that they can trick technology!
A Second Test
The doctors made sure to request a second test that would show more than if the triplets were identical. The second test was meant to provide information on where the triplet’s ancestors came from and what countries they originated from. Again, Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn expected everything to be the same. After all, the Dahm triplets were identical. Doesn’t that mean that their DNA would be the same and therefore, their genetic heritage would also be the same?
A Strange Breakdown
The results of the genetic breakdown were a bit strange, considering the Dahm triplets are identical. While the test did show that 99 percent of their DNA showed European descent, a more detailed break up of their DNA showed very different results, which proved to be confusing to the triplets and the world. For instance, the DNA test claimed that Nicole, the oldest Dahm sister, was 18 percent Irish and British while Erica was only 16 percent Irish and British.
A Bizarre Discrepancy
As the doctors on the show looked further into the results of the 23andme genetic test, there seemed to be even bigger discrepancies. When they looked at the Dahm triplet’s French and German ancestry, something did not add up. While the oldest Dahm sister Nicole seemed to have an 11 percent German and French heritage, her sister’s numbers came up totally different. Jaclyn’s results showed she was 18 percent German and French, while Erica’s said she was 22.3 percent German and French.
Something Doesn’t Match
The results were shocking even more than confusing! The last part of the DNA results took a deeper look into the Dahm triplet’s Scandinavian ancestry. Again, the results did not match up at all! For some reason, Erica and Jaclyn, the youngest sisters, both came back with the exact same results. It seemed that Erica and Jaclyn’s Scandinavian ancestry was exactly 7.4 percent. Surprisingly, Nicole’s results said that she was made up of 11.4 percent Scandinavian ancestry. Something was not right!
The Big Surprise
While the sisters sat on the live set of The Doctors, they could not control their reactions to the shocking results. Nicole was first to admit to the audience, “I’m surprised because we came from the same egg and we have the same DNA.” Dr. Travis Stork, The Doctors’ host, chimed in about the results too. The physician told the Dahm triplets and the audience that these types of genetic tests should be used for “entertainment” instead of as the real evidence of DNA heritage.
How is it Possible?
The Doctors’ host Dr. Travis Stork suggested that the saliva tests for DNA ancestry are still not advanced enough to be 100 percent correct. Dr. Travis Stork added in, “I think the answer here is that we’ve come so far in terms of genetic testing,” he continued, “but you can’t just spit in a cup and have every single answer that you are looking for.” Does this mean that Dr. Travis Stork and Journalist Guerrero don’t agree with these types of tests?
Where Do We Come From
Even though Inside Edition journalist Lisa Guerrero had some reservations about the reliability of these DNA tests, she still admitted that she would use these types of tests in the future. The journalist shared with the Dahm triplets and the audience, “It’s piqued my curiosity.” Journalist Lisa Guerrero continued, “I know I’m Latina on my mom’s side and English on my dad’s side, but I wanna know how much.” Despite not being 100 percent accurate, these tests still give great insights into ancestry.
Doctor Recommendations
Journalist Lisa Guerrero and Dr. Travis Stork both acknowledged why these tests are
so popular and fascinating to consumers. We all want to know where we come from and
what we are made of. After the triplet’s results were revealed, Lisa Guerrero said that she planned on looking into more reliable and professional testing methods. Guerrero told the audience, “I’m going to probably spend a bit more money and do it with a doctor to find out what the real results are. But isn’t it interesting?”
After DNA Testing
The Dahm triplets never expected to be surprised by the results on The Doctors. Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn were just three identical triplets from Jordan, Minnesota. They never expected to help spread awareness about DNA ancestry testing. These three gorgeous young women have obviously come a long way from their days of modeling. Since their time on the show, things have changed quite a bit for the identical sisters. You won’t believe what they are up today.
Where Are They Now?
Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn are still as beautiful as they were back when they were students at the University of Minnesota and they are all still more alike than ever! Not only did they each give birth to daughters within weeks of each other, a few years later, they each gave birth to sons too! Now all three sisters are married and each new mom has one daughter and one son! The Dahm triplets proved they are much more alike than the DNA test revealed.
Divorce Rumors
Since the triplets’ lives have become much more public, there have been many more rumors about them and their relationships in the news. Just as Dr. Phil and his wife Robin are often in the tabloids for being on the brink of divorce, Phil’s son Jay McGraw and his wife Erica are also subjected to divorce rumors. So, how are Jay and Erica, and are they headed for divorce? Every marriage has its ups and downs, especially for a couple that is often in the public eye.
An Expensive Affair
Jay McGraw and Erica Dahm got married on August 12, 2006, at Phil and Robin’s family home in Beverly Hills. The wedding was very elegant and the ceremony was intimate.
Jay and Erica wrote personal vows to each other and read them in front of all 400 guests. Robin, Phil’s wife was emotional after the ceremony. She said, “I looked at his father, and Phillip teared up, and I couldn’t hold it in. So, yeah, I cried then. It’s been tears of joy the entire time.”
Asking the Big Questions
When Dr. Phil’s son, Jay McGraw, decided he wanted to spend his life with Erica Dahm, he had to come up with a good way to ask the big question. Jay gave all the details on
Dr. Phil. He said, “It was a few days ago that we were in Dallas, Texas and I got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.” He gave Erica a five-carat platinum and diamond ring with two green emeralds.
Bridesmaids
Most brides do not have models that look identical to them as their bridesmaids, but the Dahm sisters are used to standing out in the crowd. Obviously, that was no different on Erica Dahms wedding day when she married Jay McGraw. Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn were dressed beautifully and totally stole the show. While Erica, wore a very sophisticated floor-length gown created for her by the designer, Chado Ralph Rucci. Nicole and Jaclyn wore beautiful bridesmaid gowns made by the designer, Bradley Bayou.
The McGraw Kids
Now Erica Dahm and Jay McGraw have two adorable children. Crazily enough,
their kids are the same age as Erica’s identical triplet sister’s kids! A couple years after Erica and Jay tied the knot, Erica gave birth to a daughter, Avery Elizabeth McGraw. One year later, Erica gave birth to her son, London Phillip McGraw in 2011. Both children seem very happy despite divorce rumors in the media. Both parents and grandparents are very involved in their children’s lives.
Dr. Phil’s Involved
Dr. Phil has been involved with Erica and Jay since the beginning. He even served as his son’s best man in his wedding to Erica. On Dr. Phil, Jay revealed his “I finally told my parents and they are absolutely ecstatic. They couldn’t be any happier. I think that they love her almost as much as I do.” When Jay told Dr. Phil about his engagement plans,
Phil was ecstatic that his son was going to marry the girl of his dreams
Jaclyn’s Main Man
Erica was not the only triplet to marry a very handsome man. Jaclyn Dahm, the youngest triplet, also married a special guy. Billy Dolan is the lucky guy who stole the heart of Jaclyn Dahm. Together they have one daughter and one son, just like Nicole and Erica Dahm. Billy and Jaclyn love to go on special vacations with Erica and Jay McGraw. Sometimes the foursome likes to travel to the beach together or go to fun concerts with each other.
Playboy’s Opportunities
Still, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn can not believe how far their lives have come since they were three teenagers from a small town in Minnesota. The sisters reflected in an issue of Playboy and said, “It’s something you never experience when you’re from a small town of 2,000 people, and all of the sudden you’re in a magazine all around the world,” says Erica. “It was a fun and fast ride, and the best part was my sisters doing it with me.”
Reality Stars
Now that the Dahm triplets have had their taste of the limelight, they can’t seem to get enough. The three identical sisters have been on more television shows and in more films since their Playboy debut. More recently, the Dahm triplets were in a Canadian television show Relic Hunter — about a professor who tried to return ancient artifacts to museums. The sisters have said that they would also love to do more Playboy pictorials in the future.
They Have One More Skill!
Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn are absolutely beautiful and they know how to work a kitchen! These girls have got it all. Because all three Dahm sisters love to cook, they decided to try to make some money off of their talents. The Dahm triplets — started a Youtube cooking channel where they showcased special recipes. They also started a cooking website to go with their Youtube channel. Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn called their website and the channel TripletsGourmet – YouTube