We always knew they were close, but New Zealand’s most famous twins, Jools and Lynda Topp, have revealed that they used to pine for each other whenever they were apart.
The iconic double act, who turned 61 this year, have entertained crowds for so long they’re able to turn up to a weekend gig and take the stage without even running over the routine first, they told Now To Love.
“We just arrive on a plane, get off and do the gig, we just know it,” Jools says.
But it’s only been in recent years that they’ve learned how to be content when they’re away from one another, she added.
(Lynda is based in Canterbury and Jools, north of Auckland: “We cover the whole of New Zealand now,” the pair joke.)
Jools says, “We’re good at having time off and away from each other without wondering…”
Lynda explains pragmatically, “We don’t pine so much.
“When we were younger we used to pine for each other and we’d have to ring each other every day. But as we’ve gotten older we’ve realised that the other twin is always there.”
The Topps in the ’90s, performing as Ken and Ken at a Labour Party event – yes, that is Helen Clark in the background.
While others at the same stage in their career might consider slowing down a little by now, the sisters – who are as well-known as activists as they are as entertainers – say there’s still plenty to do.
“As you get older you’re supposed to think about putting your feet up but we aren’t going to do that,” Jools says.
“We’re picking and choosing what we do now which is kind of nice – getting used to being a dame.”
The sisters were made dames in 2018 for their services to entertainment: “The rebels got their medals,” Jools said at the time.
“But once you become a dame you’ve still got to be out there doing things for people,” Lynda adds.
As well as still regularly performing in New Zealand and abroad the sisters are also working on their second movie.
Their feature documentary, Untouchable Girls, which was released in 2009 to coincide with their 50th birthday, charmed audiences worldwide and won a swag of awards.
This movie is “a whole different project,” Jools says.
“We now have a full and finished story, but it took Mr Jackson with Lord of the Rings – and he had the story, it was already written – it took him 20 years to get the thing going. It’s not to say we want to wait that long, [but] it’s probably the only movie with all our characters and it’s really important it’s right. It’s also a very important story we’re telling; it’s a very political story.
“And it’s hard to meld politics and comedy together without looking like you’re sending something up. In all our lives we’ve been political and we’ve been funny and it’s worked – but it’s a very different medium putting it onto film.”
This year Lynda and Jools were also awarded the lifetime achievement award at NEXT magazine’s Woman Of The Year awards.
They say they were humbled by the recognition – although it doesn’t change the fact that Jools is still put on dishes duty when she visits Lynda at her Methven café.
Video filmed by Alex Blackwood. Edited by Lana Byrne.
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