AJ Michalka Says She 'Sobbed' When Sister Aly Got Engaged and Recalls Thinking 'I'm Going to Lose My Sister'

It wasn't easy for AJ Michalka to watch her sister Aly get engaged to now-husband Stephen Ringer.

The Aly & AJ musicians appeared on the Jan. 8 episode of Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, and AJ opened up about feeling quite emotional upon learning Aly was gearing up to tie the knot with Ringer, whom she married in 2015 and now shares 9-month old son Jack with.

"He's literally become like my brother. I love him, and I have so much respect for him as a husband and dad. To watch him as a father, it’s really beautiful. But in the beginning I was like, ‘I don't know about this guy,'" recalled AJ, 33, who noticed how "shy" and "quiet" the filmmaker, 40, was then.

Related: Aly Michalka Tried Dating Kevin Jonas While Sister AJ Was with Joe but They Weren't 'Vibing': 'You Can't Force It'

The former Goldbergs star added, "He’s, like, an intellectual. He's super grounded, super smart, and I think I felt maybe a little like, ‘Okay, here's this Ivy League guy. I'm not going to be able to like carry a conversation with him. He's probably smarter than me.’ I think I was intimidated."

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When Aly, 35, and Ringer got engaged, AJ — who lived with her sister in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles at the time — got emotional. "I lived in the top loft, and I closed my closet door, and I sobbed," she recalled. "I was so happy for her, but at the same time I was like, ‘I’m literally going to lose my sister,’ and it didn't happen at all."

Eventually, AJ overcame the admittedly "unrealistic" feelings. But while dancing with their father, Mark, in a "really sweet moment" at Aly and Ringer's wedding, she was reminded of the worries.

"Dad goes, 'Honey, how are you doing?' And I was like, 'I'm really happy for them. Like, I feel really good about this.' And he was like, 'That's awesome. You know what? You lost a sister, but you gained a brother,'" said AJ. "I was like, ‘Huh?’ It was everything I had cried about."

She insists Mark "didn't mean it," telling Cooper, "Our dad talks like that."

Related: AJ Michalka Recalls 'Adorable' Core Memories with Miley Cyrus from Their Disney Channel Days (Exclusive)

AJ then shared a funny, yet dark story to explain Mark's personality. "This is also the same man who lost his father a few years ago, and Steven never got to meet him, our Grandpa," she said. "At the funeral, [our dad] told Steven, ‘I want you to meet my dad,’ and he was dead in the casket."

In April 2024, Aly and Ringer welcomed their first son, Jack. During her pregnancy, the iZombie star spoke to PEOPLE about feeling confident in her husband's approach to fatherhood.

"I can see Stephen being a really great dad, obviously, which is a reason why I wanted to have kids with him. He'll be very tuned in to their feelings and emotions," she said.

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