Michael Phelps may have created waves with his Olympic triumphs, but he hasn’t been the only Phelps in the spotlight at this summer’s Olympic Games in London.
Michael’s sisters, Hillary and Whitney Phelps, have supported their brother through every race, and the press has branded them the Kate and Pippa of America.
“Now which one [of you] is Kate and which one is Pippa?” Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush asked the women.
“I’d say [Hillary] is Kate,” Whitney told Billy. “I’m fine being Pippa.”
As for their little brother, Michael, the women still struggle with his celebrity.
“Do [you have] friends that would like to meet Michael?” Billy asked.
“No, they say he’s ‘hot,’ which is kind of creepy,” Hillary said.
“I had a girlfriend text me and say, ‘I know it’s your brother, but he’s really hot and has a great body,’” Whitney added. “I’m like, ‘Tell other people, don’t tell me.’”
“I think one of the best things I’ve seen was on your show in 2008,” Hillary said, referring to Access Hollywood. “I came home from Beijing and I was sitting in my apartment, turned on Access Hollywood and it said, ‘Who would you rather meet — George Clooney or Michael Phelps?’ and Michael won! I was like, ‘What?’ I called my sister I was like, ‘Everybody else can meet Michael. Can we meet George? We’ll meet George.’”
Michael capped off his portion of the Olympic Games on Saturday night with gold medal No. 18 in the 4 x 100 relay, a moment his family barely got time to share with him.
“We saw him for about five minutes,” Whitney said. “We waited. We gave him a hug, told him good job. We took a family photo and it was about 3 AM.”
“What did he say to you?” Billy asked.
“He said, ‘I ended my career exactly the way I wanted to. I trained last year the way I wanted to and was able to end it on my terms,” Hillary said.
“It’s like he had this huge weight lifted off his shoulders and he could just kind of take a breath and enjoy everything and take everything in,” Whitney added.
Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.