Band of brothers: in October gay identical twins Jacob and Joshua will rock logo in a new reality series.

Reality TV has produced many a gay icon, and the upcoming Logo reality series Jacob & Joshua: Nemesis Rising (premiering October 16) gives us two for the price of one. Jacob and Joshua Miller are gay identical twins attempting to establish their pop-rock band, Nemesis. Though many reality series struggle to manufacture conflict, the Miller brothers come at it naturally--blond-haired Jacob is driven, focused, and devoted to his long-time boyfriend, while brunet Joshua is laid-back, aggressively single, and skeptical of Jacob's determination to position the band as openly gay. Though they look strikingly similar, when The Advocate talked to both brothers (under the ever-present eye of roving reality cameras), the differences between them were immediately apparent.

What was your dynamic like growing up in Montana, Were the two of you competitive?

Joshua: There was no need for us to be competitive because I don't think Jacob has won a sport against me, ever, and he never will.

Jacob: We never played sports--what are you talking about?

Joshua: We always played! Tennis, which I always beat you at, racquetball, at racing I was faster ...

Jacob: Just because in fifth grade he beat me at the 500-yard dash, now all of a sudden he's better than me in all sports, which is absolutely not true. He's better at playing tennis than I am because he plays it all the fucking time. I don't have time ... I'm the one who drives this beat forward while he sleeps and plays.

The two of you were encouraged to move out to Los Angeles by uber-producer-songwriter Desmond Child [Ricky Martin, Bon Jovi]. What other advice did he give you?

Jacob: Up until meeting Desmond, we had always kept [our sexuality] hidden and played it straight. Desmond was the first one that said, "Don't do that. Be yourself."

Joshua: Desmond did say, "Be who you are," which was terrifying to me. It's not ... really something people have done successfully. Of course, people have come out later, once they're successful and have millions of dollars. Jacob's like, "The world is ready, the world is ready." And I don't know if the world is ready. Well see.

The two of you were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and came out to your family during the taping of the show. How are your parents reacting?

Joshua: What made it less difficult is that it had to be done [because of the show]. We had a reason to go sit down with them and say, "Hey, it's only fair that we tell you, because it's gonna be in magazines and it's gonna be on television."

Jacob: It's not exactly true that we did anything. I did it. You sat there.

Joshua: [Rolling his eyes] And you take the credit for it.

Jacob: In fact, I didn't even know I was gonna do it. Everybody sat down to dinner outside on my parents' patio in Montana, and I just decided it was time. So I think I said something like, "Part of the reason we came home is because with the album releasing this fall there's gonna be some press and it's gonna be out, so I didn't want you to find out from reading a magazine or watching TV."

Joshua: Actually, I stole a line from The Birdcage right after that. He finishes this sentence and everything's in silence, and all the camera people come running forward, and I was like, "So how 'bout them Dolphins!" I think it broke the ice a little bit.

How are your parents reacting?

Joshua: They're processing it, which they deserve to have the time to do. The repercussions of us coming out to them won't be felt until after the television show and articles become public, because then it may become necessary for the religious organization to disfellowship Jacob and I or take steps toward their version of excommunication--in which case, our family and our friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't be able to speak to us anymore.

Jacob: I think it's all a bunch of crap. I don't think anybody's gonna deal with it that way. Some of the Jehovah's Witnesses that will opt no longer to speak with us I wouldn't care about anyway. My family isn't gonna do that, and my close friends are not gonna do that.

Joshua: Jacob has lost all touch with reality. He moved to L.A. and he's forgotten.

Of the two of you, Jacob was the first twin to enter a gay relationship. How did that come about?

Jacob: When I was working for Delta Airlines [in Nashville, before moving to Los Angeles], there was this kid working at Continental and he had a crush on me. It was my first experience with a gay person, and we started hanging out just as friends. He fascinated me. I had a girlfriend at the time that I'd been seeing for three years in Montana--and I fell in love with him. I did. So that was the first time I ever had a gay experience, and Joshua kinda knew something was up.

Joshua: Oh, I had no idea what was going on! Except that I was finding condoms in his bag, and to my knowledge, neither one of us was having sex, because it was against our religion ... and I was like, What's going on? So I was horrified! And yes, eventually he came out to me, and I cried and then thought about turning him in to the [church] elders and having him disfellow-shipped--you know, I freaked out because it was sort of a big deal. And then in a way, like solving all ignorance, Jacob opened my eyes so that I could start looking for myself.

Jacob: [Laughing] And then he started dating one of my friends.

Was your sexuality the main mason you decided to leave the church?

Joshua: They were totally separate issues, but leaving the religion allowed me to start contemplating my attraction to boys' butts ... I don't say I'm not a Jehovah's Witness anymore because I don't like Jehovah's Witnesses or disagree with Jehovah's Witnesses. I support them wholly; I think it's a great religion. If anything, I say that I'm not a Jehovah's Witness anymore because it's important to them that I say I'm not a Jehovah's Witness anymore.

A lot of your fights have been captured for the cameras, but what are the best things about having a twin brother?

Joshua: You always know that you have someone there for you unconditionally. It's impossible except through death for that relationship to go bad. Talk about security--that's a security that most people only hope to have.

Jacob: Because of that, you're never lonely. A lot of people have feelings like they want to be accepted, they want to be loved, they feel lonely. I don't know what that feels like.

Buchanan has written for Flaunt, USA Today, and U-Wire and edited the cult Web zine Ostrich Ink. He is also a gay twin.

Photographed by Christopher Dibble