Jedward are assuming their rightful roles as the people’s princes

I worry about Jedward, sometimes. Not in a “oh, what will these lovable eccentrics say next?” kind of way. More along the lines of my mother asking me if I need €20 because she’s still not convinced I’ve managed to make a career out of the aul books. It’s 13 years since these hyper Dublin twins appeared on stage before X-Factor audiences and baffled TV judges, all blonde coifs and a very particular brand of confidence. But when you look at them today, men in their early 30s, it’s like time has stood still.

To the casual observer, the hair, the uncanny twin bond and the mid-Atlantic twang that rubbed Simon Cowell up the wrong way all those years ago, they’re all still there. Some digging around reveals that John and Edward Grimes still live together, are still pursuing their music careers and still give off the child-like energy that was both endearing and maddening when they made their TV debut as literal children.

“What’s to become of them?” I’ve mused patronisingly over the years, worried that the Jedward shtick would have to drop eventually and they’d have nothing to fall back on. They did pretty well for themselves coming out of X-Factor (where they came sixth), and enjoyed several years of musical success and TV hosting gigs as well as representing Ireland twice at Eurovision. They did all this surrounded by an aura of chaos. It seemed improbable that these beautiful, bewildering innocents were making a career for themselves and yet they were, building an incredibly loyal young fan base along the way.

As the years have gone on, I have continued to fret though, through reality show stints and an improbable friendship with US actor Tara Reid. I’ve wondered what life is like for grown-up Jedward. As much as it’s sort of unbelievable that they’re now in their 30s, it’s almost impossible to imagine them at 50. What’s the Jedward endgame?

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Well, if the past few weeks are anything to go by, they’re pivoting hard into political commentary. John and Edward tweet as one from a @planetjedward Twitter account, and in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death they truly went off on one, first tweeting a tongue in cheek “Liz Truss must have done something on that visit to the Queen!” When they were criticised for insensitivity they quipped back with “How is this insensitive? Liz Truss is transphobic, that’s beyond insensitive.”

They’ve been accused of stoking controversy to rekindle relevance, and if that’s what they are doing, then it’s worked

This won’t be surprising to anyone who’s been following Jedward for the past few years. The twins are vocal in their support of trans rights. In an interview with Patrick Freyne last year, they said their quest for social justice was not a new one, rather it had been fostered through relationships with fans. They said they’ve had many people communicating with them from a “dark place” – fans with mental health issues, gender identity struggles, “every issue in the book”. It makes sense that John and Edward have appealed to those who might find themselves on the fringes of acceptance, given their own particular brand of standing out from the crowd.

Jedward caused controversy in 2020 when they tweeted that JK Rowling’s – herself outspoken on gender issues – new book might make good firewood. Suggesting book burning, even facetiously, is never a good look, but it seems that Jedward don’t really care too much about ruffling feathers.

The period of UK mourning for the queen was accompanied by increasingly anti-monarchy sentiment from Jedward, with one tweet suggesting that the new king should “hand back the six counties” on his visit to Northern Ireland and another reminding their followers that “British imperialism was the cause of the Irish famine”.

In true Jedward fashion they also said that people in denial about Britain’s imperialist past need to “get a grip”. The response was anger from some quarters and amusement from others. I mean, who had “Jedward’s Anti-Royalist Commentary” on their 2022 bingo card? It’s not that surprising if you look back at the lads’ support of the Black Lives Matter movement while living in LA during the pandemic, as well as their response to the pandemic itself.

They got involved in some enjoyable japery at the expense of the likes of musician Ian Brown, who exhibited Covid scepticism and claimed he was being discredited by “lame steam media”. Jedward stormed right in with “You discredited yourself with your backward views and non-logical actions”, and the savage “your music and cheekbones are a dream but your tweets are a nightmare”.

It looks like I need to catch a hold of myself then, and my worrying about Jedward. They are well able, it turns out. They’ve been accused of stoking controversy to rekindle relevance, and if that’s what they are doing, then it’s worked. I’d be surprised if right now there isn’t an email pinging around a TV production company pitching a show where the brothers take on politicians and bigots. At the very least, they’ve endeared themselves further in their rightful roles, as the people’s princes.