Sisters perform ‘Parent Trap’ in real life to surprise their grandparents

Two sisters perform a real-life ‘Parent Trap’ on their grandparents – pretending to be each other to see if they notice.

Danielle Hendricks, 26, and her younger sister, Alexa, 23, surprised their grandparents, Shirley and Dan Carter, 84 and 85, respectively, for Thanksgiving.

Their grandparents knew Danielle was visiting, but they didn’t realize Alexa had also returned to their hometown of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, from New York City — where they both now live.

To reflect the plot of the classic film with Lindsay Lohan – which sees her switch places with a twin sister – the pair swapped halfway through a conversation.

Danielle went into the house first and spoke to her grandparents before going out into the yard and swapping jackets with Alexa – who came back into the house and started acting like her sister as part of the prank.

But it didn’t take their eagle-eyed grandmother long to notice that something was different.

Alexa tried not to make eye contact with her grandmother – who she said she’d understand immediately – but gasped when Shirley “gasped” her and both grandparents started crying tears of joy.

Alexa, a content creator from New York City, USA, said: “I couldn’t even look my grandma in the eye – I knew she’d understand the moment she saw me.

“My grandma realized it first, her mouth dropped and she gasped,” Alexa said. “My grandmother saw Daniela on the other side of the room and didn’t realize I was standing there. They were surprised and confused – they both started to cry. It was pretty sweet.”

Growing up, Alexa says she and Danielle looked very different, but as they’ve gotten older, they’ve become more alike.

“There’s a three-year age gap between us, so growing up we were very different,” Alexa said. “In our 20s, many features start to look the same and red hair turns people away. We’re definitely starting to look more like the adults we’ve become.”

Alexa has always been close to her grandparents, but after moving to New York City last year she only sees them during the holiday season.

The night before she was to visit them, she wanted to surprise them and decided to see if she could pull off the stunt and switch clothes with her sister.

“I really like surprising people, they didn’t think I was coming for Thanksgiving, but they knew my sister was,” Alexa said. The night before I couldn’t sleep and I was thinking how I could surprise them. I was wondering how we could make Trap Parents in real life and that’s what we did.”

Danielle and Alexa visited their grandparents on November 21, 2024.

But it wasn’t long until Shirley realized something was different.

Alexa said: “I was there for 40 seconds and my grandma picked it up really quickly.

“I knew my grandma would get it, she’s usually on top of these things,” Alexa said. “I realized that as soon as I started talking, they would understand.”