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American actor Ashton Kutcher and his twin brother, Michael, opened up about their relationship in a rare interview together.
While appearing on the Paramount+ series The Checkup with Dr. David Angus, the 44-year-old twins discussed their bond and how the fact that Michael has cerebral palsy affected their relationship.
The interview started with the doctor discussing Ashton's battle with a rare autoimmune condition, vasculitis, which the actor revealed in August 2022.
Gradually, the conversation shifted to Ashton and Michael's bond over the years and the lengths to which the former went to help his twin brother.
Ashton Kutcher's twin brother almost died due to a heart infection
Further in the interview, the Kutcher twins spoke about the time Michael almost passed away at a very young age after he contracted myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that made his heart grow larger and fail.
Describing his visit to the intensive care unit at the time, Ashton Kutcher said:
“I go in the room and I’m like ‘Whoa.’ I’m like…’Everything is not ok.’ And he flatlines in the room and I know that noise cause now I’ve been visiting occasionally.”
The That 70s Show star revealed in a clip posted by Entertainment Tonight that he even considered jumping off a roof and donating his heart to his brother because his would be a match. Luckily, Michael received a donor heart within 24 hours.
Michael Kutcher underwent open heart surgery after a blood clot was found, while his twin brother Ashton's career in the entertainment industry began to take off.
The Ranch star stated that he felt guilty and asked himself how he got to be "this lucky."
“For my brother…to be born with cerebral palsy, then have a heart transplant, then have this random blood clot, these things that you’re just like, ‘Who has to go through that?’”
But Michael eventually called Ashton Kutcher out for feeling sorry for his condition. The actor revealed:
“He looked at me and he said, ‘Every time you feel sorry for me, you make me less.' He said ‘This is the only life I’ve ever known, so stop feeling sorry for the only thing I have.’ And that then created an entire shift back to where I think we are today, which is straight up equals again.”
Michael Kutcher also opened up about their bond, stating that the brothers drifted apart at some point due to his jealousy after he was "receiving more attention" than him.
He also shared that he was very angry with Ashton after he revealed his cerebral palsy diagnosis to the world in a 2003 interview.
"I was very angry. Very angry. I remember speaking to him about it. I didn’t want to be the face of CP. I never talked about it."
However, things eventually sorted out between the two, and they bonded again. Michael even shared instances where Ashton Kutcher would stand up for him if others teased him or did not call him on sleepovers.
According to his website, Michael Kutcher is an advocate for the disabled and works with The Cerebral Palsy Foundation and Donate Life.
