Grab some tissues because the Dolan Twins have just announced that they’re taking a step back from YouTube. Ethan and Grayson Dolan have been continuously uploading videos every single Tuesday for five years straight, and they need a break. In a tearful new video, the brothers admitted that the vigorous schedule has had a toll on their mental health, and that they’re going to take some time to focus on themselves.

“A change needs to be made,” Ethan said, with Grayson adding, “To me, life is all about progression — moving onwards, forwards and growing as a person. There really is only one way to progress, and that is to leave the past in the past.”

The social media stars explained that uploading weekly videos was forcing them to mask their real emotions, and that they felt like they were being fake on camera.

“The uploading weekly schedule is just kind of consuming our lives,” Ethan explained. “At least 20 times in the past five years I’ve been like, ‘I quit. I can’t f–king do this anymore.’ And somehow I push through it. Normally that happens because I’m going through something hard in my life and I’m like, ‘How do I fake my mood? How do I be happy for the next two days because I have to film a happy video?’ … Not being able to recover from certain things that I’m going through because I’m posting has made me want to quit so many times. And I guess I’m proud of myself for pushing through but then also, I feel like I stunted my self-growth because of it.”

Ethan added that he felt like he wasn’t being true to himself in the videos anymore.

“My real self is growing up, but my video self wasn’t growing as fast,” he said, with Grayson adding, “When we’re watching back the videos that we’re creating, we’re like, ‘This isn’t who I am.'”

Dolan Twins Taking Break From YouTube
YouTube

The influencers also admitted that working on their videos every week has taken up all of their time and energy, and that they’re ready to just enjoy their lives now.

“I’ve lost a lot of friends and relationships and stuff because I can’t have a life,” the 19-year-old continued. “It’s the fear that the people who I care about so much, the people blessing me with all the things that I have from watching my videos and supporting me, I feel like I’m letting them down. It was either let myself down, or let them down.”

As fans know, the twins’ dad, Sean, unfortunately passed away from cancer back in January.

“Had we not been filming a video every week, we would have been able to spend more time with our family around the time that they needed us,” Ethan continued.

“When something happens in someones life, normal people can take off work. They can go figure it out and be with their family. We have a job where you just can’t take off ’cause then there’s the fear of becoming irrelevant or losing people that are counting on you,” Grayson said in the video, admitting that he felt like he had distanced himself from his family. “I can’t even go home to see my mom, and I know she needs me … It’s f–ked because I still don’t even sometimes realize that it happened … I do feel like I’m letting people down and it does take a toll on my mental health.”

The YouTubers explained that although the videos will be uploaded less frequently, they will be better in the end.

“If we have the proper amount of time, we can create something that we really love that our viewers will love as well,” Ethan concluded.

As heartbreaking as the news is, the guys’ mental health definitely comes first.

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