If you’re like me, then you’re probably obsessed with the love triangle drama in The Summer I Turned Pretty — aka a show where the main character dates two brothers and over the course of three seasons has to decide which one is the love of her life.
And it got me thinking about how people in real life would handle the situation of dating your ex’s sibling. A while ago, Reddit user u/shampoo_mohawk_ asked: “People who have dated or even married the sibling of an ex, how did that go? How did it affect the siblings/rest of the family?” Here are the wildest responses:
1.
“My dad dated BOTH of my mom’s sisters before he dated her. As long as I can remember, everything’s basically been cool. We all got along great, never any awkwardness, which may be because it was already like six years in the past by the time I was even born.”
2.
“I had a pretty big crush on a guy, and we made out once or twice. Then, 10 years later, I end up marrying his brother. My partner asked me once, when he was wasted, if I had f*cked his brother. I was really relieved that I could honestly say no to that one.”
“I love his brother’s wife to freaking pieces also. The brother and I don’t talk about the past. We were kids, and then we grew up. We’re two different people now, and it isn’t really a big deal. Although… sometimes I think about how hilariously awkward it is that I actually know which one has the bigger d*ck.”
3.
“My grandfather’s mom died when he was one year old, and his aunt moved in to help with the kids. One thing led to another, and she married his father. So basically, my grandfather’s stepmom was also his aunt. And he has no memories of his biological mom. It went pretty well as far as I’ve heard, but there could hardly be any conflict with one of the siblings dying being the main reason it happened.”
4.
“I had a friend that I wanted to be more than friends with, but she was hesitant. We remained good friends, but I ended up dating her younger sister. The older sis got really upset over it and broke off contact with me.”
5.
“My grandma met my grandpa and had two babies with him. She left him because he was abusive, and they shared custody of my mom and aunt. About 10 years later, she hooked up with my grandpa’s brother and had a baby with him, and he is named after his dad. At a family reunion of my grandpa’s side of the family, at the age of 22, I finally learned why my cousin doesn’t have the same grandpa as I do.”
“We are all fine, I think. We all make fun of it and find it hilarious. My grandma is very proud of her actions, though, and is always excited to talk to my boyfriend and his family about it. I know my great aunt hates my grandma, and that’s about as dramatic as it gets with her.”
6.
“When my grandma was 20, she got married to a very nice guy. Together, they had a son. When my cousin was two years old, his dad died. My grandma, now a single mom, raised her son for three years, until her son’s grandparents (her husband’s parents) told her they would be taking her son to raise him. My grandma would have had no choice but to give them her son. Until her brother-in-law tells her that he will marry her and support her and his nephew. My grandparents were married for almost 60 years and had 11 more kids. My uncle always felt like he didn’t belong in the family, even though my grandpa loved him so much.”
7.
“My dad started dating my uncle’s ex. It caused a huge rift, and everyone expected my uncle to just be cool with it. He hopped on a bus out of town and hasn’t spoken to anyone in, like, three years.”
8.
“A really good friend of mine dated a guy who cheated on her with her sister. They broke things off for a few months, he apologized, and then they decided to try again. A month in, and she found out he was cheating again with the same sister. Turns out he got the sister pregnant. My friend really hated her sister and the thought of a baby being involved for a long time. Now the guy is no longer in the picture, she’s forgiven her sister, and she adores her nephew. I’m glad it worked out for her, but I don’t know if I’d be able to mend things after that.”
9.
“So, my mom married my dad, had me and my sister, then got divorced when I was 8. A year or so later, my mom started dating my dad’s brother (my uncle), he moved in with us, and eventually they got married (I was probably 20 at that point). My uncle has been my stepdad longer than he was my uncle. My cousins are also my step-siblings, but we still refer to them as cousins and refer to my uncle as my stepdad. But their kids refer to my mom as grandma. It’s all confusing, and we never really questioned it. My stepdad has been there and has done more for raising me and my sister than my dad has. My mom and he go to our family dinners and holidays along with my dad and stepmom. It’s just…accepted, I guess.”
10.
“My grandmother married my grandfather, who had dated her sister previously. My great aunt said, verbatim, ‘I couldn’t stand his ass.’ My grandmother should have taken her advice because he abandoned the family when his daughter was 10 weeks old to run off with another woman. Years after that daughter passed away in a hit-and-run, he was able to weasel his way into an insurance class-action lawsuit my grandmother was involved in, and collect on his daughter’s name even though he hadn’t seen her in over twenty years. I never met him, and he died about ten years ago, abandoned by his family because he was such an asshole.”
11.
“My stepmom met my uncle back in the early ’80s. They dated for a while, and in 1986, she gave birth to a little boy. They never got married. A year or two later, they broke up, and the woman I called my ‘aunt’ was now dating my dad (my uncle’s younger brother). My dad was divorcing my mother when I was three, because my mother caught my dad cheating with Aunt, who was her best friend. Dad and Aunt dated for several years and got married when I was 7. Family functions were tense for the first few years. But they have been married for over 25 years now. So, I can’t hate that she made my dad happier than my mom did. The running joke was that she is AuntMom and her son (my step-brother) is my “brousin”. We don’t tell that joke to my step-mom within earshot, though.”
12.
“My mom was married to my dad’s older brother before she married my dad. My mom’s first marriage (to my uncle) didn’t work because they’re basically the same person, and neither of them could deal with the pain in the ass parts of themselves in another person. They didn’t have any children. They were only married for two years, and they were in their early 20s. They’re much better off as friends and are friends to this day. There was a lot of time between the marriages, like eight years, so everyone had time to get over it. My dad and his brother are as close as they always have been.”
“My grandmother is an absolute saint and has never, ever said a cross word about my mom. The only person who ever really had a problem with it was my granddad, and he died two years before my mom married my dad. My granddad wasn’t pleasant to my mother after she divorced his oldest son (my uncle, and the golden child), and didn’t live long enough to see her marry his middle son. I didn’t find out about any of this until I was 12 years old. No one intentionally hid it from me; it was just such a non-issue for everyone that it never came up.”
13.
“I’m a twin, and my wife briefly dated my brother before me. It was comical and a bit of a joke now, but nobody cares. Actually, at my wedding, I was up at the bar, and my wife and brother were still sitting at the head table. People started clinking their glasses, so my brother leaned in and kissed her on her cheek.”
14.
“My mom has three older sisters and three older brothers. She’s the youngest of seven. Apparently, my oldest aunt married my uncle, but originally, when he called the house, he wanted to speak with the 2nd oldest sister, but the oldest picked up the phone. They went out on a date, eventually got married, and had 3 kids. All those kids are grown up now and have their own kids. They’re living a happy life ~40 years later with grandkids. It became a joke more than anything that originally the (now) uncle called for the other sister to take on a date. My 2nd-oldest aunt has her own husband and family, too.”
15.
And finally, “My family is from India, and all of my aunts and uncles had arranged marriages. My dad has seven siblings. My eldest aunt was engaged to a Canadian-born Indian man; basically, the jackpot back then. He flew over for the wedding, saw my youngest aunt, and asked to marry her instead. Since my grandparents were super poor and had already spent money on the wedding, they agreed. My aunts haven’t spoken in 45 years.”
Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
So, have YOU ever dated, slept with, or even married an ex’s sibling? Tell us how it all went down! Or, if you prefer to stay anonymous, you can submit a response using this form here.