Mary-Kate Olsen used to struggle with the "public nature" of her fame

An insider close Mary-Kate told this week's edition of Us Weekly: "Mary-Kate was very clear about hating the paparazzi and the public nature of what her career as a child star had brought her. She felt hounded. It was too much to handle."

The 'Two of a Kind' star - who was married to Olivier Sarkozy from 2015 until 2021 - and her sister haven't appeared in a film together since 'New York Minute' in 2004 and these days work in the field of fashion.

Meanwhile, Ashley tied the knot with Louis Eisner in 2022 and they have Otto, 11 months, together.

But during the height of their childhood fame, the twins were at the centre of the Dualstar entertainment company, through which they released much of their direct-to-video films such as 'Passport to Paris' and 'Our Lips Are Sealed'.

Their former publicist Michael Pagnotta told the outlet: "There was no precedent for what we did. They were in charge. When they decided to bail on all the entertainment stuff and move into fashion, I think that's why they felt they had some credibility."

Meanwhile, it was also claimed that the twins wanted to "prove something" when they moved into fashion.

A former employee of Dualstar noted: "I think at some point, they wanted to prove something. Because they were TV stars when they were kids, no one really took them seriously when they launched the collection. Now it's really the only celebrity collection that's relevant."