Kylan & Izzy Darnell Are Taking On Bama Together This Year

If RushTok has a royal family, it’s the Darnell sisters. Kylan Darnell first took over TikTok with her Bama Rush OOTDs as an incoming freshman at the University of Alabama in August 2022. This summer, her younger sister Izzy Darnell carried on the tradition — well, sort of.

Kylan, 21, and Izzy, 19, both headed down to Tuscaloosa from Wheelersburg, Ohio, in early August (and brought in millions of views on their #RushTok videos), but they had distinct experiences once they arrived. Kylan was eager to embrace the excitement of her last year of sorority recruitment. Izzy signed up for rush, but quickly realized she didn’t want to follow in Kylan’s footsteps. She chose not to rush her sister’s sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, and dropped out of the process entirely before bid day.

TL;DR: Although the Darnell sisters share the same blonde hair and golden tans, they’re different people — and they’re coming away from rush with their own takeaways. “Like the villain I am. I'm feeling good,” Izzy says.

Kylan’s feeling more sentimental. “I'm actually feeling so emotional. I can't believe that I'm a senior and school's starting,” she says. “Rush has always been such a fun experience for me, I don't want to say that it’s the ‘post-rush blues,’ but I'm realizing that this year’s going to go by so fast.”

Here, Kylan and Izzy give a post-rush update on sororities and sisterhood — plus, they clear up all those conspiracy theories about what happened this recruitment season.

Elite Daily: Kylan, we spoke one year after you rushed, and now it’s your last Bama rush. How did this year feel different than the past?

Kylan Darnell: This year was a lot. I went all out, embraced all the themes, and enjoyed it since it was my last one. I also had my little sister coming in, and I was excited for her and her experience. I wanted to make sure that she did it her own way and remained authentic to herself.

ED: What went into taking that mental health break in the middle of rush?

KD: I'm somebody who loves getting dressed up in the costumes. I want to be a ray of sunshine. I've always been a creator who wants to make someone's day great and not just good.

It was hard for me to go online and act like that because I was going through a lot. I was trying to be a good sister and help Izzy. At the same time, you know how internet trolls are. I was having to watch all these Bama rush reporters come up with insane scenarios about me — people were saying that I was in a lawsuit, which didn’t happen. A lot of people were saying, “Oh my gosh, Zeta dropped her.” I'm still an active member of my sorority. They do not hate me. We actually love each other, and I'm very good friends with a lot of girls in my chapter.

It just took its toll. So I wanted to step back in that moment and be present with my sister and my family.

ED: Izzy, what was your mindset going into the rush process?

Izzy Darnell: These houses are either going to take me for who I am or they're not. So if they want me, they can have all of me. But if they don't, they're not going to get any of me.

So many people tried to change and sculpt me. Online, they were trying to make me rush Zeta, and I was like, "No, I want to do it my way. I want to be my own person.”

Izzy Darnell didn't need to be in a sorority if she didn't want to be.

ED: Kylan, how did you feel about Izzy not choosing to rush your sorority?

KD: Of course, I was heartbroken.

ID: I told her after I did it.

KD: Izzy didn't tell me. I was like, "Wow, you could have told me that one." But I love how authentic, real, and fun Izzy is, so I couldn’t crack down on her for not wanting my sorority — it would be taking away from her authenticity. I just had to shut my mouth and swallow it.

ED: Izzy, I'd love to hear from you about your decision to drop out before bid day.

ID: Well, I was looking at all the houses, and I thought, “This is not me.” I was never one to follow the crowd. I like to do my own thing. So I was like, “This is for other girls, but it’s not for me.” I want to show people that you don't have to be in a sorority. You can do it your own way and still have fun.

KD: Izzy has achieved so much on social media platforms already that she doesn't really need a sorority to make friends like I did, because I was out of state — Izzy already has those connections. Izzy Darnell didn't need to be in a sorority if she didn't want to be.

ID: And I wouldn't want to take another girl's spot who really, really wanted it. So I was like, you know what? These girls would die to be in one of these houses, so they can have it. I've got other things going on in life. I feel like a sorority would hold me back.

ED: Some people in the comments were wondering if you got dropped or if you dropped yourself. What happened?

ID: I did not get dropped by literally anyone. I put the houses I wanted, and I didn't want any of the big houses. Then I thought, "You know what? Nah, I'm not feeling it. Mom, let's go to the beach." So I went to the beach.

ED: People still have lots of theories about what happened. What is your favorite conspiracy theory that you see in the comments about you?

KD: One time, someone made a video of me, and I guess the filter moved on it. I saw people say that I was a reptile that could shape-shift. That one was funny.

ID: That one was so funny.

KD: Or that Izzy's not a student at the University of Alabama. That one was actually crazy.

ID: Yeah, my favorite one is that people say I wasn't smart enough to get into college, and I'm living here just to live here. They think I didn't graduate from high school either.

ED: What advice do you have for girls who want to post on RushTok but are worried about how the sororities may perceive it?

KD: I came in not knowing anything when I did Alabama Rush. I think I got my top house because posting didn’t have a bad stigma attached to it at the time. In the class after me, you had a lot of girls who came here to be content creators and follow in my footsteps. I love that they wanted to put themselves out there, and it's sweet that they wanted to do what I was doing, but I think it got misconstrued by sororities. In my sophomore year, when we rushed girls who were doing social media, if they didn't go TikTok-viral, they transferred and went to other schools to try it again.

I will be very surprised if there'll even be a Bama RushTok where girls post next year.

It’s become a situation where, as influencers, if we make a tiny mistake — and we're humans, we're going to make mistakes — it automatically reflects our Greek organization. That's hard for sororities. It's all about PR and how you hold yourself. And I will be very surprised if there'll even be a Bama RushTok where girls post next year, after what I’m hearing. We’ve noticed that the girls who posted didn't really go to all the top houses this year. It's a thing for a lot of sororities; if you post online during Bama rush week, you're not getting a bid from them.

ED: Izzy, did you feel that at all coming into rush as someone who already had a following?

ID: Oh, for sure. 100%. It was a guessing game: Do they want the platform? Do they not?

ED: What do you guys think is going to be the best and worst part of being in college with your sister?

ID: My sister has a tendency to smother me, and she likes to play mom, and she's so worried about things that could happen to me. She overthinks it and then freaks out on me and embarrasses me in public.

ED: Kylan?

ID: She's excited about embarrassing me.

KD: No, I'm excited to enjoy these moments with her because it's going to be so fun to share on the internet. Now, we have had our fights already, but this is my year of lasts here at the University of Alabama, and this is Izzy's year of firsts. So I'm excited to really embrace that. I'm excited to guide her.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.