What Only The Biggest Fans Know About The D'Amelio Family

Before TikTok became the viral sensation that it is today, the D'Amelio family was, by all measures, a normal family living in Connecticut. Patriarch Marc D'Amelio worked in sportswear, and matriarch Heidi D'Amelio was a model and personal trainer. Their two teenage children, Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, were just coming into their own as well. "We were kind of on autopilot as a family at the time," Marc recalled in an interview with The Guardian. "Dixie was about to go to college. She was driving Charli to school in the mornings." He added that he and his wife were essentially "looking at the finish line of parenting," ready to adjust to an empty nest within a matter of years.

That all changed once Charli blew up on TikTok, which quite literally upended everything for the D'Amelio family. "We really thought we'd figured out how to have two kids," he continued. "Then this was thrust on us." That's when all of their best-laid plans — including college and a home base in Connecticut — were pushed to the side to make way for internet fame and all its trappings.

While becoming rich and famous seemingly overnight — all from making casual dance videos in your home — sounds like a dream, it's not without its perils. In fact, as Dixie D'Amelio tells it, having a normal life is impossible now. "The worst part is that I've lost having a personal private life," she revealed in an interview with Grazia. "When your life is on the internet there is no privacy. Normal teenage and young adult stuff unfolds in front of a huge audience." Not surprisingly, that hasn't exactly been easy for the D'Amelio family. Can you imagine the pressure?

To that end, the D'Amelios' private lives have become viral stories in and of themselves. For example, Charli D'Amelio went through a very public breakup with fellow TikTok creator Chase Hudson, which she posted to her Instagram story (via Seventeen). Additionally, according to E! News, Dixie D'Amelio also split from her boyfriend, Griffin Johnson, in 2020. Of course, the internet had plenty of opinions about both of breakups, showing how much interest there is in all aspects of the D'Amelio family's lives.

Charli D'Amelio was barely 15 years old when she started posting to TikTok, and her sister, Dixie D'Amelio, is less than three years older than her. To that end, Marc and Heidi D'Amelio have had the unique challenge of parenting teenagers who became stratospherically famous. Fortunately, they were up for the challenge, says Heidi. "I protect my family online, offline and always," she explained to Grazia. "As a parent, I try to be present, to always listen and to give them enough freedom so they learn and grow, but not so much that I'm not aware of what they are doing." Talk about a delicate balance.

In addition to guiding her children in their celebrity careers, Heidi also makes sure to keep everyone grounded as a unit. "We always make sure that we carve out time that we can just be a family, not a 'working' family,'" she continued. "They're still teenagers, so we're still parenting teenagers and their emotions." And naturally, that can be pretty rough at times.

Believe it or not, but TikTok hasn't always been en vogue — far from it. In fact, back when Charli and Dixie D'Amelio started using the app, they hid it from their friends as much as possible. "Ew. People at school made fun of TikTok," Dixie revealed to The Guardian. "It was looked down on." That's why when she initially discovered that Charli was uploading videos of herself dancing to TikTok, she was mortified. "I was, like, Charli, dude, what are you doing?"

However, as Charli's videos started to get more and more popular, more and more people learned who she was. Still, that wouldn't be a badge of honor until later. "Do you remember when people first started recognizing you? They would say, 'Where do I know you from?'" Dixie continued. Too embarrassed to confess they probably saw her on TikTok, Charli would say "social media," to spare herself the humiliation. Oh, how the times have changed.

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who's big on social media — whether that's Instagram or YouTube or TikTok — who doesn't have to deal with their share of trolls and haters. Unfortunately, that's also the case for the D'Amelio family, who've had to adjust to unsolicited and unwarranted hate. "I'm trying to show people that I'm a person, and I deal with the same things as you guys," Charli revealed in an interview with NBC News, noting, "I think I'm working on being a lot more positive in my everyday life because I realize comments and things can hurt."

In addition to cruel comments about her appearance, Charli has also been the victim to multiple threats and calls falsely reporting emergencies at her home, according to TMZ. It's not surprising, then, to learn that Charli has almost quit social media altogether on more than one occasion. "Luckily I have a very good support group around me and they made me want to continue," she shared in an Instagram live (via Cosmopolitan). So Charli and her family do their best to ignore the haters and lean into the love.

At the end of the day, what's made Charli D'Amelio such a sensation on TikTok is simply her ability to dance — and to dance well. Given that moving her body is her passion, Charli is glad that it's what she's known for on TikTok. "So many people can see my content and see that I dance and maybe it'll draw them to my Instagram where I have longer clips," she told NBC News. "TikTok is definitely a great place to show people that dancing is something that I do, and it's very fun for me." Hey, it's made dancing fun for all of us, thanks to Charli!

As for the fact that Charli is a standout, that's not lost on her father, Marc D'Amelio. In fact, he and his wife have always known her dancing would take her places. "We knew that she was a special dancer, so we knew at some point we'd see her on stage," he gushed. "We knew that she would do great things at some point in her life, it's just come a lot earlier."

While the entire D'Amelio family is wildly famous on social media, none of it would have been possible without Charli D'Amelio's early TikTok videos, which eventually made them mega-celebs. Interestingly enough, however, at the outset, Marc and Heidi D'Amelio didn't understand Charli's strategy. "As parents, in the beginning we were sometimes, 'Why are you doing videos in your room with your bed unmade and clothes on the floor?'" he shared in a chat with Highsnobiety. "But Charli understood instinctively that not only did she want to portray her true self but that the people consuming her content wanted to see that from her."

That honesty hasn't waned, either, as Dixie D'Amelio says her sister is and has always been the real deal. "I think she's so happy to have the platform to talk about things that mean a lot to her," she explained. "That's important for me, too, but I don't have the pressure that she has."

While the pressure has to be enormous, the internet is a better place with Charli and her family on it.

When you're as famous as Dixie D'Amelio, the whole world is interested in your love life, and she's had some pretty high-profile relationships since her rise to fame.

Dixie made heads turn when she stepped out with fellow TikTok star Griffin Johnson in 2020, and the two were seen cuddling in videos on TikTok frequently, according to Cosmopolitan. The pair even started their own YouTube show, "Attaway General," before breaking up in July 2020. Dixie admitted to Dexerto that she and Griffin didn't manage to make it out of the relationship as friends, but that there were no hard feelings there. "It was just a dumb, immature relationship. We shouldn't have been dating in the first place," she said. "We were cooler as friends, and just — we were like, 'Oh my god!' He was just dumb and immature." At least Dixie was honest, and we're pretty sure many could relate.

Dixie soon moved on, and by August 2020, she had a new beau, Noah Beck. Also a social media star, Beck and Dixie seemed to hit it off right from the start. During an interview with GQ, Noah couldn't confess his love fast enough. "The reason I love Dixie so much is that she's my best friend," he told the outlet, adding, "... but she's also ... she's very attractive. I always tell her she has a dry sense of humor. She'll make a joke and not laugh, whereas I have golden retriever energy."

While Marc D'Amelio is a businessman at heart, he also once dipped his toes into politics. In 2018, he ran for the 25th Senate District in Connecticut (via Nancy on Norwalk). This was before TikTok made his family insanely famous.

His opponent was Bob Duff, and Marc made it clear that he planned on taking a different approach than the incumbent when it came to governing. "I can assure you, you will never get us confused. I am much different from Bob Duff. I don't act like Bob," he said during the speech where he announced his candidacy. " I have a different style than Bob. I will not govern like Bob."

He later shared more of his goals and views on the official Instagram page created to promote his campaign. In a post titled "people over politics," Marc shared what he wished to achieve should he be elected. "We need elected officials that look past political party and can find common ground without special interests guiding their decisions," the post read. "My party gets me a seat at the table, but my character and the people I represent will lead my choices."

Marc's community activism first started out at Norwalk High School, where he was involved with parents activities. He became popular among his peers when he helped push to increase the funding for the school. This is likely one of the things that sparked his interest in politics and working to bring about positive change.

After taking a break from social media for a bit in October 2022, Dixie D'Amelio made a comeback that made headlines, but not for the reasons you think.

In an Instagram live reposted on TikTok, Dixie shared that she'd been offline for a bit because she hadn't been feeling so great. She then proceeded to share that she'd been diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include experiencing mood swings that are so intense they disrupt your daily life. Dixie shared that experiencing these symptoms was pretty scary. "I have never been so low and just down. And having no idea what was wrong with me was very alarming," Dixie explained, adding, "I just felt like I had no control over my body or mind and I had no idea what was wrong but it would turn on and off like a light switch."

Dixie also explained that the disorder started to affect her relationships with the people closest to her because it caused changes in her personality and attitude. It also had an effect on her anxiety as a result. Luckily, she decided to get professional help, and hopefully, sharing her story has encouraged many others to do the same.

One of the reasons the D'Amelio family is so successful is that they've got a knack for business, so it was no surprise when they launched their own family brand in 2022, simply titled D'Amelio Brands.

"We're starting this brand company where we're going to go out and create a bunch of different brands and own the IP," Marc D'Amelio said in an interview on Squawk Box (via CNBC). These brands will include products like shoes and skincare (via Forbes).

In an interview with Forbes, Charli and Dixie expressed their excitement over this new venture, revealing that it can basically be credited to the fact that they want to strike while the iron is hot. Social media fame can be a fickle thing, and you can easily go from a TikTok star to a nobody in a matter of days. Charli and Dixie seem to be well aware of this, and are intent on enjoying their fame as long as it lasts. "That's why we're doing this now and doing it the way we want to do it," Charli told Forbes, adding, "We must take advantage of the moment." Dixie added that, aside from obviously enjoying all the perks that come with being a massive TikTok star, they truly are passionate about what they do. "With our true passions, it's not about money, but sharing what we love with the world," she said.

When everyone loves watching your life unfold on TikTok, there's a good chance a streaming network might offer you the chance to start your own reality TV show, and this is exactly what happened to the D'Amelio family. Hulu offered them the chance of a lifetime, and they took it. Now, "The D'Amelio Show" is watched by thousands of fans and even got renewed for a second season (via "Good Morning America").

While all the fortune and fame looks glamorous from the outside, having the whole world know everything about your life can't always be easy. In a video Dixie made for Vogue's "24 Hours With ..." segment, she admitted that she was nervous about making the show. "I make a lot of mistakes and I know it's all going to be caught on camera now," she confessed, adding that she and Charli have arguments (like all siblings do), and knowing that the world might see that can be pretty daunting.

Charli, on the other hand, told Teen Vogue that she was incredibly excited about the show. "It's something that I never expected I would be doing," she said. "I'm just excited to show people the whole family dynamic and what our lives are like when the cameras aren't on." Their dad, Marc, was also very keen, telling Deadline, "We've always been a very close family, but this experience has brought us even closer and we're really excited to share a glimpse of our lives with the world."