Van Tulleken brothers explained

Dr. Xand van Tulleken
Dr. Chris van Tulleken
Birth Name:Alexander Gerald[1] and Christoffer Rodolphe van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken[2]
Birth Date:18 August 1978
Children:3 (Chris 1, Xand 2)
Nationality:British
Television:Operation Ouch!
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor
The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs
What Are We Feeding Our Children?
Education:King's College School, Wimbledon
Alma Mater:St Peter's College, Oxford
Somerville College, Oxford
LSHTM, BM BCh

Alexander "Xand" van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken and Christoffer "Chris" van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken (born 18 August 1978),[3] known as "Dr. Chris" and "Dr. Xand' are British doctors, television presenters, and identical twin brothers.[4] [5] They are best known for presenting the children's series Operation Ouch!.[6] [7] Chris has become well known for his two-part television special for BBC One entitled The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs.[8] [9] Xand has also presented shows without his brother.

Early life and education

Chris and Xand van Tulleken were born to Anthony van Tulleken, an industrial designer, and his wife Kit, a publisher.[10] Their younger brother is the film director Jonathan van Tulleken.[11]

They are descended from Dutch Rear-Admiral Jan van Hoogenhouck Tulleken (1762–1851; originally Jan Tulleken, of a family traced back to the 15th century, who changed his name in 1822 and was raised to the nobility in 1842 with the rank of Jonkheer, the lowest tier of nobility.[12] The family name is officially without a hyphen, and in the Netherlands the usage of the name "Van Tulleke" is considered wrong (the "van" belonging to the name Hoogenhouck).

The Van Tulleken twins were educated at Hill House preparatory school, then King's College School,[13] an independent day school for boys in Wimbledon, southwest London, followed by St Peter's College (Chris) and Somerville College (Xand) at the University of Oxford.[13]

In June 2023 the twins were the subject of the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, in which they learned that they were descended from a wealthy slave-trader who had a plantation in Demerara in The Guianas. [14]

Life and career

Both Chris and Xand van Tulleken presented Channel 4's Medicine Men Go Wild,[15] and BBC Two's Trust Me, I'm A Doctor alongside Michael Mosley.[16] Chris was the expedition doctor for BBC Two's Operation Iceberg,[17] and has appeared in Top Dogs: Adventures in War, Sea and Ice (BBC 2),[18] Holiday Hit Squad (BBC One),[19] Museum of Life (BBC Two),[20] The Secret Life of Twins (BBC One),[21] as well as Celebrity Mastermind and The Wright Stuff.[22] Chris was also doctor to a team led by Bruce Parry which recreated the 1911 race to the South Pole in the BBC documentary Blizzard: Race to the Pole.[23] The brothers presented What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special.[24]

Chris van Tulleken was named as an emerging British talent in "The Brit List 2013" by ShortList magazine.[25]

In 2015, the pair presented another Horizon episode, titled Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?, in which Chris and his identical twin brother Xand tested the effects of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol daily (Chris) and bingeing weekly (Xand).[26]

Chris and Xand appeared on Series 5 of Hacker Time.[27]

In 2016, alarmed by the steep rise in prescription medicine in Britain and dubious as to its efficacy, Chris was featured in the BBC One television show The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs. It was a two-part social experiment in which he aimed to take over part of a GP surgery and attempt to find practical ways to treat patients and stop patients' prescription pills.[28] [29]

In January and February 2019, they presented a documentary series called The Twinstitute, repeated in 2020.[30]

In Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me, after contracting COVID-19, Xand was left with an irregular heartbeat.[31] [32]

Personal life

Chris's wife Dinah gave birth to a second daughter in June 2020.[33] Xand has a son from a previous relationship.[34] On 18 May 2023, Xand married Dolly Theis — the former Conservative Party candidate for Vauxhall in the 2017 general election — in London.[35]

Humanitarian aid

Until February 2018, Alexander and Christoffer were patrons and board members of the medical aid and healthcare charity Doctors of the World UK,[36] which is a member of the international Médecins du Monde network. In 2015, Alexander and Christoffer ran the London Marathon for Doctors of the World, raising over £3,400.[37]

Xand van Tulleken was a patron of the medical aid organisation Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin),[38] [39] [40] which merged with Save the Children in 2013,[41] and reported for BBC Two in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Burma, in 2008.[42]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alexander Gerald VAN HOOGENHOUCK-TULLEKEN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House). beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  2. Web site: Christoffer Rodolphe VAN HOOGENHOUCK-TULLEKEN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House). beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  3. Web site: The British Team . Blizzard: Race To The Pole . BBC Press Office . 12 January 2013.
  4. Web site: About Chris . Van Tulleken Brothers . 3 September 2016.
  5. Web site: Chris van Tulleken . Roar Global . 1 June 2013.
  6. Web site: Operation Ouch! . CBBC . 12 January 2013.
  7. Web site: Operation Ouch! Hardback . The Guardian Bookshop . 1 June 2013.
  8. Web site: The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs . BBC One . 18 January 2018.
  9. News: The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs was an eye-opening insight into our pill-popping culture . Hogan . Michael . 15 September 2016 . The Telegraph . 18 January 2018.
  10. Web site: 24 surprising facts about the Operation Ouch stars. Josephine. Agostino. 16 January 2020. Kidspot. 17 October 2020.
  11. Web site: IMDB. Jonathan van Tulleken: Biography. 20 December 2022.
  12. Nederland's Adelsboek, 95th edition, Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, 2010, pp. 393-404
  13. Web site: Roll of Honour . King's College School Boat Club . King's College School, Wimbledon . 15 November 2014.
  14. Web site: Who do You Think You Are? - Series 20: 5. Chris and Xand van Tulleken .
  15. Web site: Medicine Men Go Wild. Channel 4. 12 January 2013.
  16. Web site: Trust Me, I'm A Doctor . BBC Two . 12 January 2013.
  17. Web site: Operation Iceberg . BBC Two . 12 January 2013.
  18. Web site: Top Dogs; Adventures in War, Ice, and Sea . BBC Two . 12 January 2013.
  19. Web site: Holiday Hit Squad . BBC One . 12 January 2013.
  20. Web site: Museum of Life . BBC Two . 12 January 2013.
  21. Web site: The Secret Life of Twins . BBC One . 12 January 2013.
  22. Web site: IMDb Filmography . Chris van Tulleken . . 1 June 2014.
  23. Web site: Blizzard: Race to the Pole . BBC . 12 January 2013.
  24. Web site: What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special . 14 January 2015 . . 19 December 2014 . BBC.
  25. Web site: The Brit List 2013 . ShortList . 1 June 2013.
  26. Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad? . 8 June 2015 . Horizon . Horizon (BBC TV series) . Sophie . Todd . BBC . . London . 20 May 2015 . 51 . 11.
  27. Web site: BBC iPlayer . CBBC Channel Schedule . 18 April 2016 . BBC.
  28. Web site: The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs . . . 2018-01-18 . dmy-all.
  29. Michael . Sheffield . The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs . The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs, 15 September 2016 . 1 . 1 . video documentary . 2016-09-26 . dmy-all . YouTube . . . 2018-01-18 . cs2.
  30. Web site: What time is The Twinstitute on TV? What's it about and how does it work? . Radio Times . 4 December 2018 . 26 December 2018.
  31. Web site: Mangan . Lucy . Surviving the Virus: My Brother and Me review – a rigorous dispatch from the Covid frontline . The Guardian . 5 August 2020 . 11 June 2024.
  32. Web site: BBC viewers sob as doctor recovering from covid has heart restarted . 6 August 2020 . .
  33. News: Surviving the Virus: My Brother and Me review – a rigorous dispatch from the Covid frontline . Lucy . Mangan . . 5 August 2020 .
  34. News: I'm a long-distance dad so Covid was terrible – but it helped me let go of my guilt . . 12 December 2021 .
  35. Web site: Dr Xand Van Tulleken married: Operation Ouch! presenter marries partner Dolly . Chloe . Clarke . 21 May 2023 . . 7 July 2023.
  36. Web site: Van Tulleken brothers running for DOTW in the London Marathon . Doctors of the World UK . 21 April 2015 . Doctors of the World . Doctors of the World UK . 18 April 2016.
  37. Web site: Dr. Chris & Dr. Xand van Tulleken . run-for-dotw.everydayhero.com.
  38. Web site: The Eye of the Storm . . 1 June 2014.
  39. Web site: About Xand . Van Tulleken Brothers . 17 March 2020.
  40. Web site: Hands Up for Healthworkers . . 1 June 2014.
  41. Web site: Analysis: Merlin and Save the Children . 30 July 2013 . Stephen . Cook . 2020-03-17 . dmy-all . thirdsector.co.uk . 1193125.
  42. News: Unseen Burma . 18 June 2008 . . 12 January 2013.