The One Tragedy That Changed Rosso Twins Forever
By the time the aughts were coming to a close, fame seemed inevitable for Camilla and Rebecca Rosso. After being unexpectedly discovered at a live taping of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" by one of its executive producers, the half British, half Latina twins were cast as Janice and Jessica Ellis on the popular Disney Channel sitcom starting in 2006. "We took acting lessons for several months and we auditioned to be on one episode, and they liked how we played the characters, so they put us in 7 episodes!" Milly Portrait magazine in March 2009.
Things were smoothly taking off from there. In 2009, the Rosso twins snagged the main parts in "Legally Blondes," a sequel to Reese Witherspoon's blockbuster 2001 "Legally Blonde." In the third film, Milly and Becky Rosso played the British twin cousins of Elle Woods, famously portrayed by Witherspoon in the previous installments. In the process, the twins met Witherspoon, who co-produced the film. As Becky told Kidz World, "She is so friendly and chatty! She seems like a really kind and caring person. We think she is an amazing actress, so to get to work with her is such [an] honor."
After their promising start in the acting industry, the Rosso twins also dipped their toes in music, forming The Rosso Sisters with Georgina and Lola, their older and younger sisters. However, Milly and Becky put their career on the back-burner in 2015 when they were hit by personal tragedy.
The Rosso Sisters disbanded due to grief
Formed in 2013, the Rosso Sisters chronicled their journey on Instagram, where they shared photos and videos in which they appeared to be having nothing short of a blast. But the tone of the posts changed abruptly in October 2014, when the Rosso sisters shared with fans that they were flying east to be with their mother, Anthea, as she underwent surgery to remove a pancreatic tumor. "If you are going through a hard time with a loved one who has a serious illness, you are not alone," the image read. In the same post, the sisters added that the surgery was a source of "hope" after they were "originally given terrible news."
The Rosso sisters, who had been fairly active on social media up to that point, didn't post anything else until February 2015. Unfortunately, the news was not good. The sisters shared what looked to be an old photo of their mother smiling at the camera with an accompanying caption announcing her death. "We are so incredibly heartbroken & devastated that our beautiful mom Anthea passed away after fighting an extremely tough battle with pancreatic cancer," they wrote.
The Rosso sisters also announced that they decided to disband following this personal tragedy. "We're soo sorry to anyone we're disappointing, but during these extremely difficult past few months, our hopes and dreams for the future have changed," they wrote, thanking fans for their support. They haven't posted anything since.
The Rosso Sisters seemed headed for success
The Rosso Sisters seemed destined for great things. Even before the girl band formed by Milly and Becky Rosso released an album, the group was touring with none other than Demi Lovato through Latin America, as Distractify noted. According to OceanUp, Steve Barnett, executive producer of Capitol Music Group, signed the Rosso Sisters as soon as he met them in 2013 — right on the spot. In case you are wondering what's relevant about that, Barnett is the same producer who signed One Direction. The group went on to be managed by Kevin Jonas Sr. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he is the father of The Jonas Brothers.
Things were definitely looking up. By the end of the year, the Rosso Sisters had The Jonas Brothers promoting their brand, which has to rank mighty high on the list of successful marketing strategies. On November 30, 2013, Joe Jonas took to Twitter to encourage his fans to follow Milly, Becky and company. "Follow @TheRossoSisters you will be hearing a lot from them soon!" he wrote.
The Rosso Sisters went on to release their single "Hola Hola," which has more than half a million views on YouTube. But that's where they stopped. That goes to show that personal life and family often come before fame and success. Hopefully, Milly, Becky, Georgina, and Lola found the healing they needed away from the spotlight.