A Closer Look At Extreme Sisters' Brooke And Baylee's Relationship - Exclusive Interview
Brooke and Baylee from TLC's show "Extreme Sisters" are not just close — they're extremely close. Nicknamed "The Candaces," these sisters are so tight that they share the same name: one is Candace-Brooke and the other is Candace-Baylee. But that's not all — they also sometimes sleep in the same bed... even though Brooke is married, as Discovery's press release about the show noted. And, according to Fox News, they've also been known to share toothbrushes, shaving razors, and underwear. To each her own, right?
"Extreme Sisters" not only showcases the sisters' relationship, but it also reveals what happens when their bond is questioned and tested. But how did Brooke and Baylee get to be so close? The Candaces sat down with The List for an exclusive interview in which they revealed the truth behind their bond. Here is a close look at "Extreme Sisters" stars Brooke and Baylee's relationship.
How Brooke and Baylee came to be on Extreme Sisters
How did you come to be on "Extreme Sisters"?
Brooke: Yeah, so I had been posting YouTube videos for a couple of years now. And so they found me through one of the YouTube videos that Baylee and I did together. And it was a really interesting one.
Baylee: I think it was, weren't we doing the sister questionnaire or something?
Brooke: Yeah, it was like a sister Q&A. Nobody asked us to do it, but we were like, "We're totally going to do it." And yeah, they reached out through that. So, that was really cool. I was just trying to figure out stuff to post, and me and Baylee always vibe well together. So I was like, "Oh, you're going to have to post with me." And we were just being dumb.
Baylee: I think we just Googled questions to ask each other.
Brooke: Yeah, nobody was asking us any questions. It was just like something online. So it's kind of embarrassing. Honestly, we haven't even watched it lately. It was three years ago, so we were probably morons. I think it was called "Sister Sister Q&A." And I think I actually did the hashtag "Extreme Sisters," which is so weird.
The Candaces reveal what they do when they're not on TLC
Brooke, you're a teacher, right?
Brooke: No, I'm not currently. I have my full degree, but I haven't started working yet because I just had my son.
Well, congratulations. Baylee, what do you do?
Baylee: I'm in school right now. So I'll be student teaching this fall.
Did you want to become a teacher because that's what your sister studied?
Baylee: Well, our whole family is like either teachers or preachers. It's like a running joke in our family. And so I kind of just always wanted to be a teacher. So did she, and we're like, "Why not?" We could work at the same school. Be off with our kids. It's perfect.
Is that the dream, to work at the same school?
Baylee: Yes.
Do you teach specific subjects or grades?
Baylee: I am Health and PE, K through 12, and...
Brooke: Mine is elementary education. So it's first through eighth.
What it was like for The Candaces to be on camera
What was it like filming "Extreme Sisters"? Was there any particularly good or bad things about being on camera?
Baylee: I think we both love being on camera. Any time our family would throw their phones up, we're like, "Oh, time to perform." Like, "This is our area." I mean, at first it was a little awkward because we didn't know what to expect, but I feel like...
Brooke: I'd say that first day, I remember we had to rush home because we have a busy schedule and TLC worked great with our schedule. So they showed up and as soon as I got out of my school, I was doing student teaching at the time. So I got home and I was so overwhelmed. I was so nervous. There were so many people in my house.
Baylee: Yeah, everyone was here and you weren't.
Brooke: And they were ready to rumble. And I was like, "Oh my gosh." It was very scary that first day. And we knocked out a lot of...
Baylee: Stuff.
Brooke: I was just so anxious. I mean, they didn't even use most of that, which is super funny because I was horrible. Yeah. But it was interesting for sure.
Can you give me any like sneak peeks for what we can expect to see on the show?
Brooke: Baylee is currently living with me, and my husband is having to deal with, obviously, her in my bed and you know, we don't think it's a big deal. And he is really struggling with that. And so moving forward, he's going to kind of put his foot down, I would say.
Baylee: Yeah, we'll see.
Brooke and Baylee reveal the moment they knew they were different than other sisters
When did you two realize that your relationship is different than other sisters' relationships?
Brooke: I would say growing up, we always had our friends come over and, like, we were the fun house. Like all of our friends would come to our house and they would always mention things like, "You are nuts! Like you need a TV show," whether it was our arguments or just [bursting into] each other's rooms. You know, there was no privacy in any way, shape, or form with any of our siblings. So, me and Baylee growing up, we shared a room our entire lives. And so when my friends would come over, they didn't just hang out with me. It was all of us in the bed at the same time. It was, I mean like there were, there were no boundaries. We shared the same bathroom in the same room, same closet, same everything. And so when I'd go over to my other friend's house, they'd have separate rooms and I wouldn't even talk to their sisters.
You mentioned arguments, so it hasn't always been love and snuggling in the bed?
Baylee: Yeah. We get on each other's nerves very easily, but we also, like, get over it in the next minute.
Brooke: That's the thing about sisters. So that's another thing that people will be like, "Okay, what is your problem?" Like when we get together, we love each other so deeply, but at the same time our personalities do clash. Like Baylee's on her period right now. And like, I have to like really be careful because she's a little psycho –
Baylee: I don't think I'm psycho.
Brooke: – See, animosity right now. But like the thing about sisters is you guys can get in like the most toxic psycho fights. Like one time, I literally punched Baylee in the face and then she came home and we were fine. So yeah, you just have to get over it. You say to your sister, "Hey, you want to go out to eat?" and you are going out to eat. Like you're fine.
Baylee: I think she was on her period that time. Yeah, it was right after she had Ace. And she wanted me to watch Ace for five seconds and I had a friend with me and I was like, I have got to take him to his car first and then I'll watch Ace, like no big deal.
Brooke: But there was more to it.
Baylee: That was literally it.
Brooke: I don't remember, but I just remember I had rage and she turned around and I went –
Baylee: No, actually, actually she grabbed me by the hair, which turned my head.
Brooke: Did you have a black eye?
Baylee: Who knows. It didn't bleed, but it hurt so bad. Instant tears. I went right out the door. I remember my friend was like, "Are you okay?" and I was like, I went to take out the trash. I never take out the trash. I just needed a minute because I was like, "I'm about to start crying."
Extreme sisters Brooke and Baylee are always there for each other's big moments
What is your favorite memory together?
Baylee: Ooh, that's a good question.
Brooke: Oh, I have one! So, when I had my daughter, Baylee and my friend, they were kicked out of the labor and delivery room. I was going natural. This was before COVID. Denver, [who] was my boyfriend at the time, and my mom were in there, and they got kicked out. As I'm pushing my daughter out of my crotch, I literally am hearing Baylee laughing behind the curtain. She's hiding behind the curtain. I see her peeking and she's just sitting there because they tried to kick her out and she was like, "No, that's not happening." She was just sitting there, and I could hear the nurses being like, "You have got to go!" and she just would not leave. And so, that's one of my favorites.
Brooke's relationship with her husband is tested on Extreme Sisters
Brooke, how does your husband feel about your relationship with your sister? And has your relationship with your sister affected your relationship with your husband at all?
Brooke: So Denver and I, Denver knows how much I love my sister. Baylee has been there for us through so much. Denver [and] I had a really rocky relationship, and so Baylee was really there a lot, whenever I needed her. He worked a lot when my daughter was born. And so she, like, I had to go to school. So she watched Ace all the time for me whenever I had no one else. And she was there for me a lot emotionally, because we live together and I didn't live with Ace's dad, which is Denver.
So Denver, he kind of... In my head, I'm like, "Okay, like, you're just going to have to deal with this." But I definitely think that those boundaries... it's like, we're still trying to figure that out because I think, "Oh, she's done all this stuff for us." Well, he's kind of struggling with like, "You're, my wife, like when we get married, like it's me and you, it's not me and Baylee." So we have little, heated discussions, I would call them, but I just feel like he just doesn't get it. So, that's kind of where his emotions come from.
Baylee, how would you say your relationship with your sister's husband is?
Baylee: For the majority of it? It's pretty good. We get along, but I mean, we do have our disagreements sometimes, but I feel like it's pretty good. He really always sticks up for me, which I really appreciate. Because I'm like a crybaby and he knows like, even with my brother, like my brother will say something and he'll be like, "Okay, no. You're not going to say that." And I really appreciate that.
Brooke: He does love her. He really does love her. And so that's awesome. But if only he could just like be chill with the other part. Like it's not that big of a deal if she sleeps in our bed.
Do you think that one day he's going to come around or be resigned to his fate of pretty much being married to the both of you?
Brooke: I think, I mean, we've been together, we've been dating for six years, so we've been together a while. And so I think it'll come to either/or, either he will put his foot down or he's going to just come around.
If he ever gives you any kind of ultimatum, "You have to either put our relationship first or the relationship with your sister first," what do you think you would do if you were faced with that choice?
Brooke: So moving forward in the season, there is actually. He does kind of put his foot down and you'll get to see that. But I definitely think that I have to find the balancing act. And so it's definitely out in this season.
On Brooke's daughter Ace, the littlest Candace
So Ace is how old now?
Brooke: Candace-Ace is 4.
Has she realized that her mom and her aunt have a special relationship?
Brooke: Ace is like... she truly thinks that Baylee is her mom because it's not just me and Baylee, Ace is a part of it. She is a huge part of our life. I feel like she's literally both of our daughter.
Baylee: I feel that way too.
Brooke: Yesterday — my name, I've been married, so my name is Johnson — yesterday, Baylee –
Baylee: She calls me Baba.
Brooke: Yeah, she calls her Baba. So she was like, she was talking to her and she was like –
Baylee: We were doing our YouTube channel, like just talking to the phone. And she was like, "This is Baba Johnson."
Brooke: And I was like, "Well, that's not really her last name."
Baylee: She was like, "What?"
Brooke: She just was, like, shocked that she's not a part of our family unit.
Do you guys hope that she'll have a similar relationship in her life? Whether with her sibling that was just born or maybe if you ever have kids, Baylee?
Brooke: Honestly, when I got pregnant I wanted a girl so bad. I really did. But obviously, I'm so thankful for my baby boy, but yeah, I wanted it so bad.
Baylee: I think just for the sister aspect.
Brooke: Yeah, just solely for a close sister bond because Ace is older. And so I'm definitely going to have more kids. I'm going to have another girl. I don't care what I have to do. If I have to have 10 kids, I'm going to have another girl, but also me and Baylee, moving forward, when she gets married –
Baylee: We want to have a baby, like at the same time.
Brooke: Yeah. Hopefully girls. We would love girls, but –
Baylee: If we could just pick, it would be girls.
Brooke: So that's what's going to happen.
Baylee reveals how she feels seeing her sister build a new family
Baylee, how has it been for you seeing your sister create a new family of her own?
Baylee: I remember like two weeks before she was about to get married, and I had just went on a trip with [boyfriend] Briar's family and we were gone for like quite some time, and I was, like, so upset about leaving, but Briar was like, "You have to go, we've been together for two years. Like this is really important to my family." And I like went and then Brooke sent me a video of her and Ace, and Ace was crying for me and they were both so sad and I just started bawling on this family trip and I'm so embarrassed, but I was like, "I just want to go home. This is so horrible." And I was just so nervous about what was going to happen because we had lived together our whole lives. And I was just so nervous about like what the future was going to look like. And at the time, like you live five minutes away from me. So that was really good. And she was really good about like hanging out. We always hung out. And so that was really nice. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was definitely different and it was an adjustment for sure.
You live with your sister now. How did that come about?
Brooke: So whenever the pandemic happened, we were basically having ... we realized, oh my gosh, like ... My parents were really crazy about it at all.
Baylee: And they were really high risk and our grandpa was living there so...
Brooke: And you know, she wanted some freedom and she was going crazy in that house. And so she ended up ... we had talked about it. We actually got quarantined together and we were like, okay ... This is great!
Baylee: This is way better.
Brooke: And you know, whenever she did move in, it was just like she got all this freedom and she'd had friends who were like asking her, "Oh, will you live with me," like, "let's move out lalala," but that's just too big of a commitment. So, that's how we ended up together.
Do you have any plans to move out anytime soon or is this kind of the place for a while?
Baylee: You're going to see that in the show.
How Extreme Sisters' Brooke and Baylee have dealt with the reaction to their show
Are you guys nervous about sharing your story so honestly with the world?
Baylee: I definitely am a little nervous, but that's just my personality. I think one thing about us is we have a really good family unit. And so we know who we are and so we're fine. Like, people are going to have stuff to say. They've already had an insane amount of things to say, and that truly does not affect who we are or the relationship that we have. We know who we are. And you know, we also have a really strong relationship with God. So, we find our worth in that. And so what people have to say, it doesn't really matter to us.
Can you speak a little more about some of that feedback that you've already received since the first episode aired?
Baylee: For me, I just have been not looking at stuff just for my mental sake. And I feel like ... You look more at it.
Brooke: We totally expected it. So I feel like when you expect it and you know, like, okay, people are going to have stuff to say regardless, it doesn't matter if we were like, the poster child sisters, like they're going to have something to say. And so we knew that was going to happen, so I have looked at the feedback a little more.
The Candaces' family also enjoyed being on TV
Did your husband have any say in what is going on the show?
Brooke: So... Denver is like one of the, like, he is a full supporter of just me, in general. And so whenever the opportunity was given, my dream in life has always been to be entertaining people. And whether that was YouTube or just any type of social media, I felt like that was my calling. And that's what God wanted me to do. And so when the opportunity came, it was a no-brainer. I mean, we've obviously talked about it and he, I don't know if he knew how much he was going to be on it, but he enjoyed it. He liked it a lot more, and he, that first episode, that was, I was very nervous. And so he...
Baylee: We thought he would be horrible.
Brooke: And he really, he shined I feel like, and he really was able to show his personality.
Baylee: He wasn't like shying away or anything. He is just the bee's knees, baby.
What about Ace? Is she going to be on the show? And how is she on camera?
Baylee: Yes, so Ace is going to be in the show a lot more.
Brooke: She loved it. She, oh, she loved it. She liked getting mic'ed up, like all of that stuff. Like she loved it and she fell in love with the people who were filming us, the producers and the crew. Like she loved all of them. She wants to, she's like, "Can we..."
Baylee: We were doing an interview today. And she thought we meant like an interview that we would do for the show. And so she was like, "Oh, I get to see everyone!" She was so excited. And we were like, "Well..."
Brooke: Yeah, we totally loved it. They're like family now already.
Does Baylee think that her boyfriend is "the one"?
Baylee, let's talk about your boyfriend, Briar. Is he on the show as well? What was his experience like?
Baylee: Okay. So he was very nervous. The first time he came over to film, we thought he was so awkward and we thought it was so funny. He just didn't know. He does not like being filmed and stuff, but he did really good after a while. He's a great speaker. And then it was funny because the premiere, he was asking me, he was like, "Do you think I'm going to be on this one?" Like, and then he was so he was so excited and he's like trying to hide it, but he's like smiling. So big, it was so cute.
I love the way that like, they were able to like capture how me and Briar's relationship really is. We have no boundaries like me and Briar are like this. And so that was fun too. And he liked that too. We were actually like me and Briar was sitting like this on the couch, watching the show together.
It bodes well for your relationship that he's on board with both of you.
Baylee: Yeah. He couldn't make it if he wasn't, honey.
Baylee, do you think he's the one?
Baylee: I do. I really do.
And Brooke, do you agree? Do you think that he's the guy for your sister?
Brooke: Oh, he's 100% percent the guy. He's the guy for all of us. That'd be great.
Extreme Sisters' Brooke and Baylee hope viewers learn this important lesson
What is the one thing that you hope viewers take away from your story?
Brooke: I would say just, "Be authentically who you are and be who God called you to be." Baylee talks about her virginity in it. Well, I talk about, I talk about Baylee's virginity for her and that's something that a lot of people aren't experiencing and they didn't talk about it in the show, but the reason she does that is because of her relationship with God and Briar is trying to be a youth minister. And so, she's just so authentic to herself and I'm so authentic to myself and I love that. And it doesn't matter what people are going to say. I feel like we just have to be who we are.
Baylee: And who God made us to be.
Brooke: Yes, 100%.
It's all about sisterly love in TLC's new series "Extreme Sisters," with new episodes airing Sundays at 10p.m. ET/PT.