Woman pretends to be late twin sister for 5 years to avoid causing heartbreak

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Kennedy Felton Lifestyle Correspondent/Producer

By Kennedy Felton (Lifestyle Correspondent/Producer), Jack Henry (Video Editor)

A viral content creator pretended to be her late twin sister to avoid causing her grandparents heartbreak. For five years, Annie Niu kept the secret to herself.

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Niu, known for her food, beauty and travel content, recently revealed that secret in a viral TikTok video. She explained her elderly grandparents were never told of her sister’s passing.

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The original post, shared in December 2022, has since received nearly 2 million likes.

The reason behind the secret

Several viewers had questions about Niu’s decision. In a follow-up video, she explained her family’s reasoning.

“A lot of you all don’t understand, this is really common in Asian culture,” Niu said. “We try to shield them from terrible news.”

Her twin sister passed away at 29 from viral meningitis. According to the CDC, most people recover from viral meningitis within 7 to 10 days. However, in rare cases, it can be deadly.

Emotional update five years later

This December, Niu posted an emotional video update. She filmed herself crying at her grandparents’ house.

The text overlay read, “POV: You finally told your family that your twin sister passed away five years ago and they took down every single photo that had her in it.”

Niu explained this was her aunts’ and uncles’ decision, but it was her father who originally suggested keeping the news from her grandparents. He believed it would spare them from heartbreak.

“This past July, my grandma passed away. On her deathbed, my dad told her that my sister passed away and that she’s waiting for her on the other side,” she said in another post.

Divided reactions from viewers

Thousands of comments flooded in after Niu’s videos. Some viewers criticized the decision.

“This is so messed up, everyone deserves to know and she deserves to be remembered,” one user commented.

Others shared support for her choice.

“I understand why you didn’t tell them. I have elderly grandparents too, and we’ve done the same thing,” another user wrote.

To this day, Niu said her grandfather still doesn’t know about his granddaughter’s passing.

Tags: CDC, Death, Social Media, TikTok

[KENNEDY FELTON]

Imagine losing your twin sister, and then deciding to become her – at least for a few days every year. Well, that’s exactly what one social media content creator did for the past five years up until very recently.

Since December 2022, Annie Niu has had her share of viral videos. Not only for her food, beauty, and travel content, but for pretending to be her late twin sister. In a now-viral video from December 2022, Niu explained her grandparents were never told the heartbreaking news. That video has garnered nearly 2 million likes.

As you can imagine, many viewers had questions. Still, they followed Niu’s journey as a content creator, where she often shared videos related to her late sister. In a follow-up video shortly after the first, Niu revealed the reasoning behind the secret.

“A lot of you all don’t understand, this is really common in Asian culture. We try to shield them from terrible news,” Niu said.

Niu’s twin sister passed away at the age of 29 from viral meningitis. According to the CDC, while most people with viral meningitis recover on their own within 7 to 10 days, in rare cases, it can be deadly.

This month, another viral video brought an emotional update. Niu posted a clip of herself crying at her grandparents’ house with text reading – “Point of View: You finally told your family that your twin sister passed away five years ago and they took down every single photo that had her in it.” She later explains this was her aunts’ and uncles’ decision. And in another explainer video, Niu revealed it was her father’s idea to keep the news from her elderly grandparents, believing it would spare them from heartbreak.

“This past July, my grandma passed away and on her deathbed, my dad told her that my sister passed away and that she’s waiting for her on the other side,” Niu said.

Thousands of comments flooded in, questioning Niu and her family’s decision, with one user saying the situation is “so messed up… everyone deserves to know and she deserves to be remembered.” Another user commented, “I understand why you didn’t tell them, I have elderly grandparents too, and we’ve done the same thing.”

To this day, Niu says her grandfather – who is still living – does not know about her sister’s passing.