Jerry O'Connell Jokes That He Gave His Twins Alcohol on Their 11th Birthday: 'It Was Tequila'

Jerry O’Connell‘s daughters are 11!

The twin sisters — Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip — celebrated their birthday on Dec. 28, amid sweet wishes from their dad and mom Rebecca Romijn on social media.

But the photos posted by O’Connell (jokingly captioned, “Somebody’s Birthday! Shots shots shots!” by the actor) caused a little bit of a stir on Instagram. The first snapshot showed the girls each holding up a shot glass filled with a clear liquid, while the second depicted them downing the matching drinks.

Most of the comments were from friends and fans in on the joke, but many wondered if O’Connell, 45, was really giving his girls alcohol — an inquiry the Jerry O’ host shut down Tuesday on The Wendy Williams Show.

“I did buy them a round of shots. My wife and I did tell them that we got them vodka and they were like, ‘Okaaay … ‘ ” the father of two recalled. “It was not. It was Sprite. So calm down, Instagram.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Jerry O'Connell's daughters | Jerry O'Connell/Instagram
Jerry O'Connell's daughters | Jerry O'Connell/Instagram

RELATED: Kate Hudson “Can’t Wait to Go to a Bar” with Son Ryder, 15, When He’s of Age: “Is That Weird?”

“Everybody in the comments was like, ‘You can’t let them have alcohol, that’s terrible!’ ” he continued, before kidding, “It was not vodka. It was tequila.”

In all seriousness, Dolly and Charlie have been “begging” their parents for cell phones, but O’Connell and Romijn, 47, did not oblige the girls that particular wish for their birthday because they are “really trying to keep them off the phones” for as long as possible.

“Let me just tell you the problem. I don’t want to assign blame … one of [the girls], I’m not worried about. There’s another one who I know is gonna be like, ‘Heeyyy, whats up Instagram?’ ” he told host Wendy Williams, putting on a hilarious “teen girl” voice and exaggerating the movements of taking a photo for social media.

“There is an argument to be made that you’re able to track your children because they have a cell phone,” he agreed when Williams, 55, offered safety measures as a counterpoint. “[But] my daughters would get lost in Roblox and Instagram and Snapchat and filters.”

View this post on Instagram

Birthday Bachanal Continues.

A post shared by Jerry O'Connell (@mrjerryoc) on Dec 30, 2019 at 3:04pm PST

RELATED VIDEO: Alfonso Ribeiro and Jerry O’Connell Share Their Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions with Family

The girls’ birthday was a multi-day affair for their parents. Following Charlie and Dolly’s celebratory soda shots, Romijn and O’Connell took their children out for dinner — complete with three desserts!

“Birthday Bachanal Continues,” the former Crossing Jordan actor captioned his post, showing the family at their restaurant table, their faces bathed in the glow of candlelight from their sweet treats.

Romijn’s tribute to her daughters came in the form of a throwback photo of Charlie and Dolly as babies, enjoying a smiley bubble bath with their mama.

“11 years ago. HBD little ladies,” the actress and model wrote to accompany her post.