What happens in Vegas … usually ends up on the internet. In this case, an Ohio father was surprised to meet his doppelgänger while enjoying his time at the pool. He posted a picture of the two of them on Reddit, and it got upvoted almost 100,000 times.
Sean Douglas McArdle is professor at Kent State University and a father of two. He was visiting Las Vegas to celebrate his buddy Dan’s big 40th birthday. Sean was minding his own business relaxing at the pool at the Hotel Flamingo when he noticed people were staring at him.
Sean told Today about the experience: “Everybody on the opposite side pointed at me laughing and I just got a little embarrassed. I look back at my friends and they're pointing at some other dude and laughing.”
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Sean’s confusion quickly turned into recognition. "I look over and it was like looking in the mirror," he said. "I've seen guys who've had similarities to me, but man, this guy just looked just like me. It was pretty surreal."
Sean decided that he should meet this man who looked just like him. He swam over to do just that. His opening line? "I asked him, 'Are you Seth Rogen?' He chuckled." Sean has been told numerous times that he looks like the actor.
The pair were even dressed similarly. They both sported the same style of hat and were wearing their glasses while in the pool. Sean said he does this so he can see when in unfamiliar situations. "I get weirded out if I can't see and I'm around a bunch of strangers, so I just kept my glasses on in the pool," he said. "He did, too."
The pair took the now-viral photo, but Sean forgot to ask his twin's name. He later posted the picture on Reddit, which is the social media platform he prefers. The post went viral. Just 11 days after posting, it's been upvoted 95,000 times and has 2,300 comments.
Sean’s kids have mixed feelings about his newfound internet fame. Their teenage hormones might be the explanation behind this. One child is 13 and the other is 17.
The 13-year-old thinks it's pretty cool. "My youngest thought it was pretty funny," Sean said. "I finally have something that has more views than she does from TikTok. She gets millions of views on goofy things she posts on TikTok. So, a little bit of a competition there."
The 17-year-old is not as amused. "My 17-year-old, COVID hit at a weird time for him and his life. So he's kind of having some social anxiety and stuff. He was having like secondhand social anxiety when he saw it, seeing two complete strangers so close to one another."
Sean chooses to use his own name on social media so he is held accountable for what he posts. After his divorce, he made some changes in his life, one of which was no longer using usernames. “It made me responsible for whatever I posted,” he said. And despite what he found in Vegas, “There's only one Sean Douglas McArdle.”
