COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wedgie-proof underwear earned 8-year-old twin boys a spot Friday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Using rigged boxers and fabric fasteners to hold together some seams, Jared and Justin Serovich came up with the “Rip Away 1000.”

“When the person tries to grab you – like the bully or the person tries to give you a wedgie – they just rip away,” Justin explained Thursday by phone from Los Angeles, where the TV segment was taped Wednesday.

The third graders from Gables Elementary School began brainstorming one day after they were horsing around, giving each other the treatment. Their mother’s partner sarcastically said someone ought to invent wedgie-proof underwear, the family said.

The project got the boys to the finals of a central Ohio invention competition earlier this year, followed by the television appearance.