John Stamos is joining the next season of Netflix’s risqué “Hunting Wives” show, and his wife is already considering the possibility of nude scenes.
In a recent appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Stamos admitted that Caitlin McHugh, his wife of seven years, asked him about potential nudity in the season.
“I told my wife, the first thing she said to me was, ‘Are you going to show your penis?’” Stamos said.
John Stamos will be joining season 2 of “Hunting Wives.”(Michael Kovac)
Cam Gigandet and Dale Dickey are also set to join the series for season two. The Netflix show is already packed with stars such as Brittany Snow, Malin Akerman, Jaime Ray Newman and Dermot Mulroney.
Stamos married wife Caitlin McHugh in February 2018, and the couple have a son named Billy.(Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
Variety reported that the second season will pick up with Snow and Akerman’s characters “on the outs, but soon enough, old secrets and new foes force them back together. As they play their dangerous games, the question arises. Are they the hunters or the hunted?”
Appearing on the “Good Guys” podcast Monday, Stamos defended his former “Full House” co-star and longtime friend as “a saint” while deeming her estranged husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a “terrible narcissist” and an “asshole.”
“Forty years I’ve known her, and you know, you can see through people after a few years … this woman’s a saint,” he said. “I’m just heartbroken for her right now. I really tried to be there for her at this time.”
Addressing the scandal directly, he added, “I’m not going to debate whether she had much to do with it or not ― I know she didn’t. He dragged her through that [and] she goes to fucking prison for this asshole for three months.”
Stamos and Loughlin are best known for their portrayals of Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky, respectively, on “Full House,” which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1995.
The pair reprised their roles on the Netflix revival series “Fuller House,” which ran from 2016 to 2020.
“Forty years I’ve known her, and you know, you can see through people after a few years … this woman’s a saint,” actor John Stamos, right, said of his “Full House” and “Fuller House” co-star, Lori Loughlin.
Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images
The same year that “Fuller House” wrapped, Loughlin and Giannulli pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for their roles in “securing the fraudulent admission” of their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, to the University of Southern California.
At the time, prosecutors described Giannulli, a fashion designer, as “the more active participant in the scheme” and noted Loughlin “took a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit.” Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison, while Loughlin received a two-month sentence.
Earlier this month, People reported that Giannulli and Loughlin had separated after 27 years of marriage.
Stamos has defended Loughlin on previous occasions. “She wasn’t really the architect of any of it,” he told Dax Shepard on a 2022 episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast. “She didn’t know what was going on.”
In his “Good Guys” appearance, Stamos said Loughlin is “devastated” by the demise of her marriage, noting: “I just hate to see her go through this, I really do.”
As for Giannulli, he added, “I pray that he realizes that what he had was everything anyone could ever hope for, and that he gets some help. He’s a terrible narcissist, and I don’t think you ever get out of that.”
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Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
John Stamos doesn’t want to diminish his time as Uncle Jesse, he’s just ready for something grittier.
“I just want to play a little more real,” the 62-year-old actor told US Weekly in an interview published this week. “I’m looking for my ‘Breaking Bad.’”
The star with the megawatt smile knows he’s best remembered as Jesse Katsopolis, the Elvis Presley-loving family man on “Full House” who everyone wanted as their uncle growing up.
Stamos said the more he gets roles that are unlike the sitcom, “the more I embrace what ‘Full House’ was and what Uncle Jesse is. People can call me Uncle Jesse all day long. I love it now. I still get to work with Danny DeVito.”
John Stamos reflects on “Full House,” fatherhood and what’s next for him.(Disney/Tina Thorpe)
Stamos calls his newest project “Drag,” a horror movie produced by the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star in which he plays a serial killerr, “maybe one of the darkest, weirdest roles I’ve ever taken.”
He will also be part of the second season of Kristin Wiig’s snarky comedy “Palm Royale” as a lawyer/gynecologist.
“I just pinch myself sometimes,” Stamos said. “To be able to still be considered good enough to work with some of the greats — just to be in a scene with these people — that means a lot.”
He said because of projects like “Drag” and “Palm Royale” he can accept his permanent link to “Full House” “because I’m not just that. I’ve proven to myself that I can do other things. Whether people see the other stuff or not, it doesn’t really matter. And also, having a kid, now I realize how important [‘Full House’] is.”
John Stamos, right, with the cast of “Full House” in 1989. (American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images)
He continued, “It holds up because the themes are universal, and it’s needed now more than ever.”
With discord at an “all-time high, and decency at an all-time low,” he said “people need good entertainment. They need positivity, optimism. You walk into a Beach Boys show at a certain age, you’re going to walk out younger and happier and more optimistic.”
Stamos, known for being a great dad on “Full House,” had his first child, son Billy, in real life in 2018.
John Stamos reunited with “Full House” cast member Dave Coulier last year on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” (Disney/Chris Willard)
“I consider myself a really good dad,” he said, before adding that the night before “was maybe one of my worst parenting moves ever.”
After coming back late and tired after a long day at Disneyland, Stamos said he put what he thought was toothpaste on a toothbrush for his son.
It “turned out to be anti-itch cream. He said he brushed and thought it was toothpaste, but it started to taste weirder and weirder,” he said. “We try as parents.”
In an effort to impress his 7-year-old, Stamos has also taken certain roles.
John Stamos with wife Caitlin McHugh and son Billy in June. (John Nacion/WireImage)
“Nothing I was doing was working,” he admitted. “He used to watch ‘Mickey Mouse Funhouse,’ so I just started asking around, ‘Can I do a voice on there?’ I did this salty Irish pirate on there, and he loved that. And then he started getting to Marvel, so I started doing more of the Marvel stuff. I just hit up all my friends at Disney and go, ‘Can I do some more voices, please?’”
And yes, Billy watches “Full House,” “but mainly to mock me. I say, ‘Billy, put your Legos away.’ He goes, ‘You got it, dude.’ He likes to do the catchphrases right back at me.”
“I stopped drinking 10 years ago. That’s why I’m alive. I never would have met my wife if I was still drinking,” he explained. “I’m happy where I’m at in my career, but I think I would be a lot further along if I’d stopped sooner. I got the job done, but I could have done it better, and I could have been more connected. Getting married and having a child, that’s kept me young and kept me alive. I think that’s helped with my longevity.”
McHugh talked about the secret to their marriage last year, joking with Fox News Digital that they’ve only been married a “long time in Hollywood. Not in real life, but we spend a lot of time together. There’s a lot of good communication and stuff. But really, I wonder if it’s just that he went through everyone else already. I was the last one.”
She said their son is a bit of a charmer like his dad.
“[Billy] is a hambone and a half, I like to say, just like his dad – has not fallen far from the tree at all.”
But despite still being one of the most famous faces in Hollywood, Stamos remains modest.
“I’m shocked myself that I’m still around,” he admitted to US Weekly. “If I could be humble about it, I think I’ve been a pretty nice person, and that goes a long way. There’s 20 guys in line behind you that could do the job just as well. So hopefully my reputation has helped with that. I’m still amazed when I get a job like ‘Palm Royale,’ getting to work with Kristen Wiig and all these great actors. I’m happy to play smaller roles and work with really good people.”
Stamos shared a birthday thirst trap this week to celebrate turning 62.
“A rooftop birthday shower in NYC to start the day, and the love of family and friends to carry me through,” Stamos captioned the shirtless pic on Tuesday. “At 62, I’ve learned the best things in life can’t be washed away…laughter, love, and gratitude. Thank you for every wish and every year. I don’t take a single drop for granted.”
Aug. 17: Actor Robert De Niro is 82. Guitarist Gary Talley of The Box Tops is 78. “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes is 76. Actor Robert Joy (“CSI: NY”) is 74. Singer Kevin Rowland of Dexy’s Midnight Runners is 72. Bassist Colin Moulding of XTC is 70. Country singer-songwriter Kevin Welch is 70. Singer Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s is 67. Actor Sean Penn is 65. Jazz saxophonist Everette Harp is 64. Guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses) is 63. Singer Maria McKee (Lone Justice) is 61. Drummer Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes) is 60. Singer-bassist Jill Cunniff (Luscious Jackson) is 59. Actor David Conrad (“Ghost Whisperer,” “Relativity”) is 58. Rapper Posdnuos of De La Soul is 56. Actor-singer Donnie Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block) is 56. TV personality Giuliana Rancic (“Fashion Police,” ″E! News”) is 51. Actor Bryton James (“Family Matters”) is 39. Actor Brady Corbet (“24,” “Thirteen”) is 37. Actor Austin Butler (“Dune: Part Two,” “Elvis”) is 34. Actor Taissa Farmiga (“American Horror Story”) is 31.
Aug. 18: Actor Robert Redford is 89. Actor Henry G. Sanders (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) is 83. Drummer Dennis Elliott (Foreigner) is 75. Comedian Elayne Boosler is 73. Country singer Steve Wilkinson of The Wilkinsons is 70. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 68. Actor Madeleine Stowe is 67. TV news anchor Bob Woodruff is 64. Actor Adam Storke (“Mystic Pizza”) is 63. Actor Craig Bierko (“Sex and the City,” ″The Long Kiss Goodnight”) is 61. Singer Zac Maloy of The Nixons is 57. Musician Everlast (House of Pain) is 56. Rapper Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan is 56. Actor Edward Norton is 56. Actor Christian Slater is 56. Actor Kaitlin Olson (“The Mick,” ″It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) is 50. Comedian Andy Samberg (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 47. Guitarist Brad Tursi of Old Dominion is 46. Actor Maia Mitchell (“The Fosters”) is 32. Actor Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”) is 31. Actor Parker McKenna Posey (“My Wife and Kids”) is 30.
Aug. 19: Actor Debra Paget (“The Ten Commandments,” “Love Me Tender”) is 92. Actor Diana Muldaur (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 87. Actor Jill St. John is 85. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 82. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 81. Singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is 80. Actor Gerald McRaney is 78. Actor Jim Carter (“Downton Abbey”) is 77. Singer-guitarist Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass is 77. Bassist John Deacon of Queen is 74. Actor Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 73. Actor Peter Gallagher is 70. Actor Adam Arkin is 69. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 68. Actor Martin Donovan is 68. Singer Ivan Neville is 66. Actor Eric Lutes (“Caroline in the City”) is 63. Actor John Stamos is 62. Actor Kyra Sedgwick is 60. Actor Kevin Dillon (“Entourage”) is 60. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 59. Former MTV reporter Tabitha Soren is 58. Country singer Clay Walker is 56. Rapper Fat Joe is 55. Actor Tracie Thoms (“Cold Case”) is 50. Actor Erika Christensen (“Parenthood”) is 43. Actor Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) is 43. Actor Tammin Sursok (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 42. Singer Karli Osborn (SHeDaisy) is 41. Rapper Romeo (formerly Lil’ Romeo) is 36. Actor Ethan Cutkosky (TV’s “Shameless”) is 26.
Aug. 20: News anchor Connie Chung is 79. Trombone player Jimmy Pankow of Chicago is 78. Actor Ray Wise (“Reaper,” ″Twin Peaks”) is 78. Actor John Noble (“Lord of the Rings” films) is 77. Singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 77. Singer Rudy Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers is 73. Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 73. Actor-director Peter Horton (“thirtysomething”) is 72. “Today” show weatherman Al Roker is 71. Actor Jay Acovone (“Stargate SG-1”) is 70. Actor Joan Allen is 69. Director David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle”) is 67. Actor James Marsters (“Angel,” ″Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is 63. Rapper KRS-One is 60. Actor Colin Cunningham (“Falling Skies”) is 59. Actor Billy Gardell (“Mike and Molly”) is 56. Singer Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is 55. Actor Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) is 55. Guitarist Brad Avery of Third Day is 54. Actor Misha Collins (“Supernatural”) is 51. Singer Monique Powell of Save Ferris is 50. Actor Ben Barnes (“Westworld,” ″Prince Caspian”) is 44. Actor Meghan Ory (“Once Upon a Time”) is 43. Actor Andrew Garfield (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) is 42. Actor Brant Daugherty (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 40. Singer-actor Demi Lovato is 33.
Aug. 21: Guitarist James Burton (with Elvis Presley) is 86. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 84. Actor Patty McCormack (“Frost/Nixon,” “The Ropers”) is 80. Singer Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams is 78. Actor Loretta Devine (“Boston Public”) is 76. Newsman Harry Smith is 74. Singer Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) is 73. Guitarist Nick Kane (The Mavericks) is 71. Actor Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 69. Actor Cleo King (“Mike and Molly”) is 63. Singer Serj Tankian of System of a Down is 58. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix,” ″Chocolat”) is 55. Musician Liam Howlett of Prodigy is 54. Actor Alicia Witt (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” ″Cybill”) is 50. Singer-chef Kelis is 46. Actor Diego Klattenhoff (“The Blacklist”) is 46. TV personality Brody Jenner (“The Hills”) is 42. Singer Melissa Schuman of Dream is 41. Comedian Brooks Wheelan (“Saturday Night Live”) is 39. Actor Cody Kasch (“Desperate Housewives”) is 38. Musician Kacey Musgraves is 37. Actor Hayden Panettiere (“Nashville,” ″Heroes”) is 36. Actor RJ Mitte (“Breaking Bad”) is 33. Actor Maxim Knight (“Falling Skies”) is 26.
Aug. 22: Newsman Morton Dean is 90. TV writer/producer David Chase (“The Sopranos”) is 80. Correspondent Steve Kroft (“60 Minutes”) is 80. Guitarist David Marks of The Beach Boys is 77. Guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour is 67. Country singer Collin Raye is 65. Actor Regina Taylor (“The Unit,” ″I’ll Fly Away”) is 65. Singer Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears is 64. Drummer Debbi Peterson of The Bangles is 64. Guitarist Gary Lee Conner of Screaming Trees is 63. Singer Tori Amos is 62. Keyboardist James DeBarge of DeBarge is 62. Country singer Mila Mason is 62. Rapper GZA (Wu-Tang Clan) is 59. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (“Oz,” “Lost”) is 58. Actor Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”) is 58. Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis is 55. Actor Melinda Page Hamilton (“Devious Maids,” ″Mad Men”) is 54. Actor Rick Yune (“Die Another Day,” “The Fast and the Furious”) is 54. Guitarist Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty is 53. Rapper Beenie Man is 52. Singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys is 52. Comedian Kristen Wiig (“Bridesmaids,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 52. Actor Jenna Leigh Green (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 51. Keyboardist Bo Koster of My Morning Jacket is 51. Bassist Dean Back of Theory of a Deadman is 50. Actor and TV host James Corden is 47. Guitarist Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan is 47. Actor Brandon Adams (“The Mighty Ducks”) is 46. Actor Aya Sumika (“Numb3rs”) is 45. Actor Ari Stidham (TV’s “Scorpion”) is 33.
Aug. 23: Actor Vera Miles is 95. Actor Barbara Eden is 94. Actor Richard Sanders (“WKRP In Cincinnati”) is 85. Country singer Rex Allen Jr. is 78. Actor David Robb (“Downton Abbey”) is 78. Singer Linda Thompson is 78. Actor Shelley Long is 76. Fiddler-singer Woody Paul of Riders in the Sky is 76. Singer-actor Rick Springfield is 76. Actor-producer Mark Hudson (The Hudson Brothers) is 74. Actor Skipp Sudduth (“The Good Wife”) is 69. Guitarist Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots is 64. Singer-bassist Ira Dean of Trick Pony is 56. Actor Jay Mohr is 55. Actor Ray Park (“X-Men,” ″The Phantom Menace”) is 51. Actor Scott Caan (“Hawaii Five-0”) is 49. Singer Julian Casablancas of The Strokes is 47. Actor Joanne Froggatt (“Downton Abbey”) is 45. Actor Jaime Lee Kirchner (“Bull”) is 44. Saxophonist Andy Wild of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats is 44. Actor Annie Ilonzeh (“Chicago Fire”) is 42. Musician Sky Blu of LMFAO is 39. Actor Kimberly Matula (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 37.
CULVER CITY, Calif. — Jimmy Kimmel is on his summer vacation from late-night television. But before he started his time off, he taped a summer of shows for primetime.
Kimmel is back with a new celebrity-filled season of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”
“This show is so much easier than my show. I mean, really, like, the amount of preparation is basically one minute of reading through pronunciations and then sitting down,” laughed Kimmel.
In the new season of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” celebrities are pairing up to win money for their charities – including the stars of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Scrubs” and “Full House.”
“We got into neuroses. We get into all sorts of old wounds were opened. I didn’t even want to ask any questions because it was so funny watching them sit there and talk,” said Kimmel.
“Kenan and Kel” hope to hit the jackpot on the show. But they are already winners when it comes to the fans.
“When Ken and Kel walked out there, I’m not joking, the whole front row of the audience here started crying,” said Kimmel.
But laughing has been a big part of the show. So has philanthropy.
“It’s been very fulfilling so far. And people have made a lot of money. And you can tell when you talk to these people that, all joking aside, all game show aside, these charities mean a lot to them. When you ask somebody, ‘What is your favorite charity?’ you know, it hits home,” said Kimmel.
I asked Jimmy what game night looks like at the Kimmel household.
“I don’t like games. Maybe I shouldn’t be a game show host!” joked Kimmel. “I do love to play Scrabble. Unfortunately, no one will play with me ever because I just don’t ever lose. So, I love to play Scrabble. I like to play Boggle, sometimes by myself. But word games, I guess, are the games I go for.”
I let him know those were my two favorite games.
“Oh, I would love to play you.” said Kimmel. “Oh, just Pennacchio’s like a thousand points!”
“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” airs Wednesday nights on ABC.
Jerry O’Connell is keeping his lips zipped about John Stamos‘ new bombshell memoir.
While appearing on “Access” earlier this week, he was asked if Stamos’ comments about his divorce from Rebecca Romijn came as a “shocker.”
O’Connell, who is currently married to Romijn, kept his opinions under wraps.
“You know, it’s not really my place to say [anything],” he told hosts Mario Lopez and Kit Hoover. “I would rather my wife talk about that.”
The “Kangaroo Jack” actor added that he and Romijn had zero warning about the contents of Stamos’ book, “If You Would Have Told Me,” before it hit bookstores on Tuesday.
“We find out just like anyone else,” O’Connell said.
As Stamos promotes his book and its juicy revelations make headlines, O’Connell joked that he knew better than to comment on anything.
“My wife and I are getting along so well today,” he quipped.
Before Romijn tied the knot with O’Connell in 2007, she was married to Stamos, whom she first started dating in 1994. Stamos and Romijn got married in 1998 and finalized their divorce in 2005.
John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn first met backstage at a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1994. They divorced in 2005.
Randall Michelson Archive via Getty Images
Romijn met O’Connell in 2004 while she was still finalizing her divorce from Stamos. The two welcomed 13-year-old twin daughters, Charlie Tamara Tulip and Dolly Rebecca Rose, in 2008.
Last week, Stamos told People that he “hated” Romijn and thought of her as “the devil” when they split after more than a decade.
He also revealed to Howard Stern on Tuesday that he felt “emasculated” as Romijn’s career took off and his stalled.
Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell exchanged vows in July 2007.
STEFANI REYNOLDS via Getty Images
Romijn offered up kind words about her ex during an appearance on “The Talk” alongside O’Connell in May 2022.
During the episode, she reflected on when she and Stamos first started dating, called their divorce “heartbreaking” and shared that she has “a lot of fond memories” of the “Full House” actor.
“Going through a divorce is terrible, it’s awful,” Romijn said at the time. “I was with him for 10 years. Divorce feels like a failure, and there were a lot of things that I had to let go of that were very sad.”
Stamos explained to Stern that after he married the former Victoria’s Secret model in 1998, her movie career quickly took off. Romijn joined the “X-Men” franchise in 2000 and started to work with iconic directors like Brian De Palma. Stamo — known primarily for work in television — was fresh off his eight-season stretch on “Full House” and hadn’t done much work since.
“I felt that I became emasculated,” Stamos told Stern, referring to Romijn’s skyrocketing acting career. “I think she outgrew me.”
The actor told the radio personality that, at first, he was happy to take a backseat to his ex’s burgeoning career.
Rebecca Romijn and John Stamos in 2000, the same year she starred in “X-Men.”
Sam Levi via Getty Images
“I loved her, and I thought she was super talented. So I was happy to do that,” he told Stern, according to additional quotes from the interview provided by People. “But I forgot about my own stuff. She was taking off, and I just wasn’t paying attention to mine. And it wasn’t her fault.”
Stamos said at this point in his life, he was being a bit lazy and was only putting about “50, 60 percent” of his effort into his marriage and career.
“‘Well, my 50% is better than you know 99% of the people out there,” Stamos told Stern of his mentality at the time. “I don’t have to give it all.’”
But Stamos admitted to Stern that he regrets not trying a bit harder.
“I didn’t work on anything. I didn’t work as hard as I should at anything,” he said, noting that his “career and my life would have been a lot better” if he hadn’t given in to being on cruise control at the time.
Stamos’ remarks to Stern come a week after Stamos admitted to People in an interview promoting his new memoir that he once viewed Romijn as “the Devil.”
“I just hated her,” Stamos told People at the time. “I couldn’t believe how much I hated her, and it ruined my life.”
Stamos and Romijn dated for four years before tying the knot. Stamos filed for divorce in August 2004, and it was finalized the following year. Their split made headlines, and Stamos said the visibility and public opinion surrounding their divorce greatly affected him — although he does not go into great detail about how he felt after their divorce in his memoir.
“It was very public, and that was very painful,” Stamos told People. “I didn’t write much about that, but it’s hard. It was very much the opinion that she dumped me because her career was going great and mine wasn’t, and that’s humiliating. I don’t blame her for it.”
Stamos added to People that after their split, he began drinking heavily and eventually hit rock bottom. During his recovery, however, he started to reevaluate his role in the dissolution of their marriage and admitted to the magazine that he had “some part” in their breakup.
“You start thinking … ‘Oh, she wasn’t the Devil. Maybe I was as much to blame as her,’” Stamos said.
John Stamos returned to The Howard Stern Show today (October 24) to catch up with Howard Stern and Robin Quivers and open up about his new book, If You Would Have Told Me: A Memoir.
During his appearance, Stamos, 60, reflected on his first love — actress and model Teri Copley — and how she cheated on him with fellow actor Tony Danza. Stamos also delved into his battle with alcoholism, his DUI, and his 2015 stint in rehab in Utah. Since then, Stamos hasn’t had a drink.
Stamos also got candid about his divorce with Rebecca Romijn, revealing that sharing “anything less than the truth is paralysis.” After they split up in the early 2000s, Stamos “blamed” Romijn. However, while writing his memoir, he realized that it was just as much his fault. He wanted to acknowledge that in his book.
“I felt that I became emasculated,” Stamos said due to Romijn rising acting career. “I think she outgrew me.”
“I was so angry at her for so long,” he added, “and I’m just so happy to not be angry, I’m happy for her.”
Additionally, the beloved actor looked back on his success — and struggles — playing Uncle Jessie on the ’80s-’90s sitcom Full House. He also talked to Howard and Robin about a “highlight” of his career (his starring role in the Broadway musical Cabaret in 2022), his friendship with Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters, and much more.
In If You Would Have Told Me, which he released today, Stamos opens up about his many highs and lows throughout his life.
Asbury Park, New Jersey is not just a popular shore destination, but a Mecca of music history. Home of iconic venues like The Stone Pony- where Bruce Springsteen got his start in performing- thousands of people flock just for The Pony alone…but every September, the seaside city gathers to celebrate rock and roll for Sea.Hear.Now.
Sea.Hear.Now is the perfect ending to your summer for multiple reasons. It gives you an excuse to enjoy the sun and the sand one more weekend post Labor Day, even better that you throw all of your favorite artists together. I’ve always said that festivals are the best bang for your buck as a music fan- you spend a few hundred dollars to see at least 10 artists over multiple days with general admission seating, as opposed to that $2,000 Taylor Swift ticket.
I’ve been to a few festivals spanning from Firefly in Dover, Delaware to the infamous Coachella in Indio, California. I’ve seen bands I may not have purchased single show tickets to, and I’ve become fans of artists just by happening upon their performances at these events. Festivals are great ways to try out new music without throwing all your money away- and there’s no better way to get a feel of an artist than seeing them live.
This was my first year at Sea.Hear.Now, and it didn’t disappoint. For fans of older music and new music alike, there’s truly something for everyone here. Located on the actual beach (so bring sand-appropriate shoes), Sea.Hear.Now features clothing pop-up shops, local food and drink vendors, and much, much more. Here are the highlights:
The Best Performances of Sea.Hear.Now 2023
The Killers at Sea.Hear.Now 2023
Chris Phelps
I’d be crazy if I didn’t start with what we all came for: the music. I hadn’t seen most of these acts live before, but I have admittedly seen (and worshipped) The Killers at Firefly a few years ago. But my reviews are as follows:
Sheryl Crow- if I can look half as good as her, I will consider myself successful. My first headline thought was: Breaking News: Sheryl Crow Has Still Got It. She has a powerful voice, knows how to rock the guitar, and “Soak Up The Sun” will always be famous.
Greta Van Fleet- one word: wow. Everyone compares them to Led Zeppelin, and I was so shocked by the vocal range and witty banter they provided. I became an instant fan.
Royal Blood- not only did I get the chance to interview the lovely British duo this weekend, but also see these two rockstars. Kicking off their tour, Royal Blood did not disappoint.
The Killers- I can’t say enough about this band and how amazing they are live. They opened with my favorite song of all time, “Mr. Brightside,” and I astral projected to the moon. Ask anyone there, The Killers are a must-see whenever they’re in town, bringing up a fan every time to play drums with them. Always electric, never a let down.
Greta Van Fleet at Sea.Hear.Now 2023
Pooneh Ghana
Stephen Sanchez- Sanchez creates story lines with his music, and to hear it seaside felt ethereal. Hits like “Until I Found You” sound better at the beach.
The Beach Boys- First of all, they brought out John Stamos as their drummer (instant win). But Mike Love and Bruce Johnston brought the house down, with Love’s son also helping them out. I loved every second of it.
Mt. Joy- Philly’s finest, Mt. Joy sounds just as good live as they do on your phone. Something about Mt. Joy at Sea.Hear.Now just makes sense.
Weezer- Weezer was another highlight of the festival- playing all of their hits and sounding identical to their soundtracks. “Beverly Hills” and “My Name is Jonas” were some of my faves.
The Foo Fighters- The Foo Fighter fans were plentiful, belting out every word. They didn’t miss a beat, and were the perfect ending to a rock-filled weekend.
The Food at Sea.Hear.Now
At any given festival, the food looks better than it tastes. It’s just a fact, no matter what they try and tell you. However, I did have my first Korean-style corn dog, which was essentially a giant mozzarella stick with a hot dog in the center and sauce on top…and it was delicious despite the fact that it would have sent a Pilgrim into cardiac arrest.
The drinks were moderately priced compared to other festivals I’ve been to, there were plenty of free water stations (as opposed to Coachella), and I need to give a special shoutout to the Hendricks Boat Bar. They had the best triage of Hendricks drinks (I don’t even like gin and these were delicious) curated by Erik Andersson, who also gave us a great tour.
The Experience at Sea.Hear.Now
Cam Richards
Fiona Mullen
Sea.Hear.Now has a lot to offer: picture opportunities, specific drink tents like Tito’s, Twisted Tea, etc., and even shopping opportunities. And for once, I want to emphasize the perks that VIP tickets could get you: your own viewing area close to the stage so it’s never a bad view, access to festival merchandise (not bands, however), your own bathroom area and food/bars, TV’s and a lounge. It’s truly worth the upgrade.
There’s even a surfing competition, which honestly worried me a bit since there was a hurricane but I’m not the professional. But what I loved about this festival is it stayed true to Asbury Park’s roots, featuring everything the small city had to offer.
No matter what, it’s a more relaxed vibe compared to the intense marathon that Coachella is. You have a wider age range of people, all dressed however they want (from festival chic to football jerseys on Sunday). But that’s the beauty of Sea.Hear.Now: come as you are, all will be welcomed.
The actor whose looks and charm earned him a devoted following as Uncle Jesse in the sitcom “Full House” talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about the impact of the death of his friend Bob Saget, and how the future looks today. (An earlier version of this story aired on October 2, 2022.)
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An earlier version of this story originally aired on October 2, 2022.
Correspondent Tracy Smith asked actor John Stamos, “Do you feel like you’re having a moment?”
“I hope I am,” he replied. “But then, if you have a moment, then that moment has to end, right? Or something. [Still], I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
Truth is, Stamos has a lot to be happy about. In the past four decades, Stamos has become something of a fixture in our lives: He’s the heartthrob who won’t ever break your heart … the friend who won’t ever let you down … and from here to Broadway, someone who’s been called one of the truly underrated actors in the game.
These days, he’s also a husband and a father. He married actor and model Caitlin McHugh in 2018, just before the birth of their son, Billy. It was the end of what he says was maybe one of the longest childhoods in history.
“I went into becoming an adult kicking and screaming,” he said. “And when you have the whole world going, ‘You look 20,’ I didn’t have any of those tent poles that say you’re an adult. I was just skatin’ through.”
“You didn’t have to grow up?”
“I didn’t have to. I had Peter Pan syndrome, which is dangerous, you know?”
The boy who didn’t want to grow up was born in Orange County, California in 1963. John was the first of Bill and Loretta Stamos’ three children, and even as a kid, little John seemed destined for the stage.
“I wanted to be famous,” he said. “I wanted to be famous so bad! And then once I got it, I loved it. I still do. You know, these people go, ‘Oh, I hate being famous, taking pictures.’ If you see me somewhere, ask for a picture. I’m happy to do it, because it’s what I wanted my whole life.”
Actor John Stamos.
CBS News
He skipped college to try his hand at acting, and landed a role as Blackie Parish on the long-running soap “General Hospital.” Stamos was a star, with a reputation as a ladies’ man. He said, “There was a long time when I felt like, ‘I need to be this Lothario,’ because people were living vicariously through [me]. … I wasn’t that guy. I mean, there were moments. But I think people thought I was out doing a lotta things with a lot of women that I wasn’t. First of all, the thing that saved me most was I would go to bed around 8:00 at night. I was always asleep!”
But his star really took off in 1987, when he was cast as Uncle Jesse Katsopolis in the TV series “Full House.”
“‘Full House’ comes along, I’m not gonna lie, it was very difficult, a lot of it. A lot of it was,” he said.
Why? “Because it just wasn’t where I saw myself. The reviews were like, ‘This show won’t last ’til Thanksgiving.’ And now, I’m so proud of it. Now I’m really happy that I did that show. I’m glad I did it, obviously.”
John Stamos and Bob Saget in the sitcom “Full House.”
ABC
Whatever his feelings about “Full House,” it made John Stamos a next-level star, and gave him a best friend in co-star Bob Saget.
At Stamos’ 50th birthday bash in 2013, Saget toasted his friend: “You deserve so much happiness and you are so full of love and you are such a great person. And the talent and the looks everybody resents, but you’re just a heart, and I just love you very, very much.”
The two were practically inseparable, and when Saget died in January 2022 after a fall in a Florida hotel room, Stamos was shattered.
Stamos said, “I don’t know what else to say about it other than obviously … one of the biggest influences in my life was Bob. I wouldn’t be who I am without Bob. My parents, now that’s obvious. But him, you know, he was there for everything, all the good, all the bad. He was my brother, you know? He’s the brother that that I always wanted.”
At his house, Stamos showed Smith Saget’s guitar, which his wife gave to him. “You can only play dirty songs on here,” he said.
Stamos is a collector: his home is filled with photos of heroes who became friends. He’s also collected a few screen credits, like a long-term part on the hit series “ER.”
With looks, charm, and a star on the Walk of Fame, it always seemed like Stamos had the perfect life. But his first marriage, to model-actress Rebecca Romijn, ended in divorce. And as he writes in a new memoir coming out later this fall, “If You Would Have Told Me,” he had other dark days as well.
Henry Holt & Co.
Smith asked, “Have you pretty much worked steadily since ‘General Hospital’? Has there ever really been a dry spell?”
“Yeah. I think there was a time. I think I’m in a dry spell right now. I haven’t worked in a couple days!” he replied.
“That’s how you look at it?”
“That’s how actors look at it. There was, yes, of course, there was times,” Stamos said. “You know, I don’t wanna labor on it. But in my first marriage, I think I was consumed with her and not my own career. And I just kinda let things go and it was more I felt like, ‘I’ve done it,’ you know? That was my thing, too. For the longest time, when I was not sober, when I was fuzzy, I thought, ‘I’ve done it all.’ I didn’t wanna kill myself, but I didn’t care if I died.”
“You didn’t care if you died?”
“I said, ‘I’ve done it all. I’ve done … if I die tomorrow, it’s okay.’ What was I thinking? I hadn’t done it all; I still haven’t done it all, not even close.”
He said, “You know, that fateful night of, I got in my car, I thought I could drive, and I couldn’t. I just have flashes in my mind about driving in circles. And people were driving near me and they would roll the window down, ‘Uncle Jesse, pull over!’ And I went to rehab, and it was the hardest thing ever.
“My friend said, ‘You know, your mom was really worried about you.’ He said my mom would call him and say, ‘I’m worried about Johnny.’ ‘Cause I thought I was fooling everybody. Anyway, that was that. So, when that happened, I said, I can’t screw this up now. I have to stay with this.”
And here’s something you might not know about Stamos: he’ s a hell of a drummer. He’s been playing with the Beach Boys and co-founder Mike Love since the 1980s. Love even officiated John and Cailtin’s wedding.
“You know how they say don’t meet your heroes?” Stamos said. “I’m glad that I met him, ’cause he’s everything that you’d want Mike Love to be.”
John Stamos at the drums.
CBS News
And maybe, after a few decades of figuring it out, John Stamos is everything he wants to be, too.
Smith asked him, “What’s the future look like?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he replied. “More kids, I hope. But I’m not looking too far in advance. I’m just thinking about now. ‘Cause the next moment might be someone, you know, gone, right?”
“And this moment’s pretty great?”
“This is a great moment. Winnie the Pooh said something like, ‘Today is my new favorite day.’ Making these new memories, and it’s, you know, my new favorite day. Today is my new favorite day.”
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Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Mike Levine.
As many a homeowner can confirm, once you have a mouse, it’s pretty tough to get rid of.
This is certainly the case for Ryan Gosling, according to his pal, fellow actor John Stamos. In an interview with Keke Palmer on her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, Stamos revealed that he’d felt he had to mask his status as a Disney Adult—a grown-up fan of The House of Mouse. “I think I reached puberty there,” Stamos said. He explained that he proposed to his wife in a Disney park, and claimed that she, a fellow Disney Adult, had wanted to give birth in the park, which even Stamos said was “too much.” He even tried to deny his heritage as a subject of the Magic Kingdom, he said.
“Six or seven years ago, I was like, ‘Man, I gotta shed this Disney thing, [because] who’s gonna take me seriously with the Mickey Mouse stuff? I’ve gotta distance myself from it’,” he said.
It wasn’t until a conversation with notorious cereal refuser Gosling at a dinner party that he felt empowered to openly embrace his true status as a Disney Adult. We smell a Moana-style embrace of one’s True Self coming on.
According to Stamos, Gosling said that he’d heard that the two shared a love for Disney. Gosling was famously a Mouseketeer as a kid, cheesin’ on The Mickey Mouse Club, and now self-identifies as a Disney Adult. After all, puppies grow into dogs, Disney kids grow into Disney Adults.
Stamos recalled Gosling telling him about his own quests into the Magic Kingdom: “I wear headphones, I go on rides, I have a mixtape.”
And now, Stamos is all about that Disney life. He beat Michael Jackson in an online auction to win an enormous Disneyland sign (he had to bring it in by helicopter and said that when he was single he’d ask girls to “come home and see my D,” get it? Get it?) and has a candelabra-shaped phone that once had a place of honor in Walt Disney’s office, among other full-on artifacts.
“When you go through those gates, the rest of the world goes away,” Stamos said.
John Stamos confessed why he was fuming after Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen decided not to reprise their roles for “Fuller House.”
While appearing on a recent episode of the “And That’s What You Really Missed” podcast, the “Full House” actor opened up about his “angry” reaction after the twins didn’t want to reunite with their former co-stars for Netflix’s reboot of the beloved ’90s sitcom.
“The twins moved to New York. And I gotta tell you, one of the only good things to come out of Bob [Saget’s death], well … Mary-Kate and Ashley, we didn’t see them much. I mean, we stayed in touch a little bit, but Bob really did. And they were so great,” Stamos said.
The “You” star continued, “You hear rumors, ‘Oh, they hated their childhood, or they hated being on the show or whatever.’” He then revealed how he reconnected with the childhood actors after his co-star Bob Saget died.
Saget, 65, died from head trauma in January 2022. He played Danny Tanner on “Full House,” which ran for eight seasons from 1987 to 1995.
More than 20 years later, Saget reprised his role as the widowed father of three girls in the sequel for five seasons, in which all the original stars returned aside from the Olsen twins.
The “Full House” cast: Dave Coulier, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate/Ashley Olsen, Bob Saget, Candace Cameron and John Stamos.
ABC Photo Archives via Getty Images
“When I did ‘Fuller House,’ they didn’t wanna come back. And I was angry for a minute,” Stamos, who played Jesse Katsopolis, the uncle of Mary-Kate and Ashley’s character Michelle Tanner, shared. “And that got out.”
Calling Saget “instrumental” in keeping the cast connected after the original series wrapped up, Stamos said the comedian’s death led to the restoration of his relationship with the Olsens after they met up and spoke candidly about the show.
“But they were, like, ‘We loved our childhood. We loved being with you. We miss Bob.’ They came over to my house. They brought a pork chop and sage. I don’t know why, but thank you? It was a frozen pork chop, so that was really nice. So we stayed very close,” the leading man recalled.
Last month, Stamos got real about another strained moment among the trio back in the earlier days of filming ABC’s “Full House,” admitting he had the twins briefly fired for crying too much on set when they were just 11 months old.
“I said, ‘This is not gonna work, guys,’ and I screamed it 10 times. I said, ’Get rid of them, I can’t work like this,” the 59-year-old said on the “Good Guys” podcast.
Stamos’ demand led the Olsen twins to get temporarily replaced by “two redheaded kids,” who the former soap opera star slammed as being “terrible.”
“It had nothing to do with [them being] redheaded, but they weren’t attractive,” Stamos said, before sharing that the Olsens were rehired after “only a few days.”
The “Full House” star on Friday took to Instagram and posted a painting of him and his wife. But that’s not all. The painting, masterfully done by the actor himself, also featured the amount of time he and Caitlin have spent together as a married couple, down to the minutes!
“My favorite 1,826 days, 43,824 hours or 2,639,440 minutes ever!” he captioned the sweet post. “Happy 5th anniversary, Love! (Water color by yours truly).”
Not to be outdone, Caitlin, 36, also honoured Stamos with throwback photos of the couple on their wedding day. The first photo featured Stamos and Caitlin sharing their first kiss as a married couple. The other photos featured them smiling and laughing while at the altar.
They both looked stunning — Stamos in a classic black tux and Caitlin flawless in her wedding gown.
“I love looking back on photos from 5 years ago today. So many smiles, so much love, and I’m so grateful our love continues to grow,” she captioned her post. “What a beautiful life we have together. Happy Anniversary and Thank You @johnstamos for putting up with me all this time. I love you!”
Stamos seems to have a knack for making his tributes to Caitlin quite memorable. Just last year for their 4th wedding anniversary, Stamos recalled the unromantic way he met Caitlin.
“Some couples meet at work. Some meet through friends. Some on dating apps. I met my wife on a TV show called ‘SVU Law and Order’ [sic],” Stamos wrote, “where I was playing a serial reproductive abuser, trying to secretly impregnate her by poking a hole in a condom- I already had 47 children, but wanted one more.”
Stamos continued by quipping, “It took me 7 years, but eventually I had a child with my Disney Girl.”
Stamos and Caitlin welcomed their son, Billy, in 2018.
“I am going to say this, and she said I could,” Stamos said. “She wasn’t really the architect of any of it — she was in the way background. She didn’t know what was going on.”
Loughlin pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars in a scam to get her two daughters into college, but Stamos thought that Loughlin deserved some credit for how she made amends for her role in the scandal in the last couple of years.
Besides the two months behind bars, Loughlin was ordered two years of supervised release, a $150,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service.
“She also paid a lot of money. She set up a college fund for kids, and she went to fucking jail, man,” he added.
In October 2021, Loughlin was mocked on Twitter after she and her husband privately arranged to put two unidentified students through college at an approximate cost of $500,000.
Stamos has shown support for Loughlin in the past. For instance, last month, the two did a TikTok video together and called the original arrest as “a difficult situation for everyone involved.”
Although Loughlin’s career took a hit after the arrest, EW notes that she has returned to acting in shows like ”When Calls the Heart,” ”Garage Sale Mysteries,” and ”When Hope Calls.”
You can hear the complete interview between Stamos and Shepard below.
Actor John Stamos sits down with Tracy Smith to discuss his Disney+ series “Big Shot” and the impact Bob Saget had on his life. Then, Norah O’Donnell heads to the CIA Museum in Langley, Virginia, to learn about some of the artifacts on display. “Here Comes the Sun” is a closer look at some of the people, places and things we bring you every week on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
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A version of this story appeared in Pop Life Chronicles, CNN’s weekly entertainment newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
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When fall is in full swing, it’s all about sports at my house.
Like clockwork, my husband invariably takes control of the television with a hearty “You know what time it is!”
Sundays are for college football and Mondays pro football — so I’m freed up to hunker down with one of our other TVs and enjoy some uninterrupted viewing time of my own.
But thanks to John Stamos, I’m now more of a basketball fan, which leads us into what to watch this week.
‘Big Shot’ Season 2
JohnStamos is back as the coach of a high school basketball team at an elite girls private school.
His character is still temperamental, but in the show’s second season his team is now in a different division and — *gasp* — boys have arrived at Westbrook.
Stamos gets an assist in this sports dramedy from costars Yvette Nicole Brown and Jessalyn Gilsig, among others; it’s exactly what you would expect from a series cocreated by David E. Kelley.
“Big Shot” is streaming on Disney+.
‘The Watcher’
Ryan Murphy lives to creep us out.
This time, it’s with “The Watcher,” which is based on a terrifying true story: A family buys their dream house only to discover they’re being stalked by someone obsessed with the home — and them.
In real life, the family never even fully moved in after being terrorized by threatening letters and ended up selling the property at a loss in 2019, five years after they had purchased it.
But you won’t have to wait that long to watch the dramatized version of their story, because “The Watcher” is streaming now on Netflix.
‘Halloween Ends’
Let’s continue with the scary stuff as this is Halloween month, of course.
Poor Laurie Strode. The iconic “final girl” played by Jamie Lee Curtis has been trying to stay out of serial killer Michael Myers’ clutches for decades in the “Halloween” movie franchise.
But as the new film’s title suggests, Curtis is insistent this will be her character’s last go-around with the masked murderer.
“I need to now cut her loose and let her live in the minds and hearts of the fans that have supported her,” Curtis told Entertainment Weekly.
So does that mean Michael finally kills off Laurie? “Halloween Ends” is now streaming on Peacock — and in movie theaters.
In a new true crime podcast series, reality star/entrepreneur/criminal justice advocate Kim Kardashian highlights Kevin Keith’s 1994 conviction on triple homicide charges in Ohio, as well as the tireless work he and his family have since undertaken to prove his innocence.
“Sharing people’s stories that are not just on a rap sheet will help people get comfortable and understand where someone has come from,” Kardashian told The Hollywood Reporter. “Usually, you don’t hear the other side.”
Love her or hate her, Kardashian is making use of her enormous platform to bring attention to those she believes have suffered injustices.
“Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith” is streaming on Spotify.
Speaking of platforms, “American Idol” judge Katy Perry is using hers to help people rediscover the magic of the late Elizabeth Taylor with podcast “Elizabeth the First,” which explores the movie star as the original influencer.
“I’m inspired by her bold activism, her constant boss moves in business, and through it all, an unapologetic way of loving — all things I try to live in my own life,” Perry said in a statement.
Taylor, who died at 79 in 2011, is a forever icon, and I love seeing her being celebrated this way.
Elias was doing stand-up recently at Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, when an audience member began grilling her on whether she had voted for President Joe Biden.
“I wasn’t talking about politics,” Elias told CNN. “It just felt like she was looking for a fight.”
The heckler was tossed out of the club, but the man who was seated next to her threw a beer can at Elias. It landed hard on a wall near to where she was performing.
Rather than explode or turn the other cheek, Elias just took a sip of the remaining brew. That reaction, and determination to finish her set, has won her praise from all over.
Let me first preface what I am about to say by stating I am a longtime admirer of Madonna.
Others complained that the star, who has always been a huge supporter of LGBTQ rights, was “queer-baiting,” alongside broader criticism about Madonna taking to TikTok at her age.
Madonna is not a fan of people pointing out her age (see her taking the New York Times Magazine to task in 2019), and the entertainment industry is notorious for ageism.
Yet it can be difficult for older celebrities to strike a tone on social media that feels appropriate. Some of them, like Dionne Warwick on Twitter, have mastered it — others can come across as cringe.
Not that Madonna has to fade away — I doubt she ever could — but she’ll likely always be judged by some, as her determination to live life on her own terms is ageless.
What did you like about today’s newsletter? What did we miss? Pop in to poplife@cnn.com and say hello!
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 10: John Stamos poses at the IMDb Official Portrait Studio during … [+] D23 2022 at Anaheim Convention Center on September 10, 2022 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Corey Nickols/Getty Images for IMDb)
Getty Images for IMDb
John Stamos is still fully embracing what made him a household name nearly 35 years ago: being a family entertainer. You can now see Stamos in season two of Big Shot on Disney+.
This season on Big Shot, “Marvyn Korn” (John), a disgraced college basketball coach, is out to prove his high school women’s basketball team belongs on ESPN and recruits an unlikely player to do so.
The role was a major challenge for Stamos, who’s not a sports guy.
“It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, and I’m not kidding,” the 59-year-old actor told me via Zoom video. “I’ve put myself out there a lot. Being a doctor on ER was easier than being a coach, because I’m telling you, the lingo is just as foreign to me. At least the medical stuff is Latin, so you can kind of piece it together. I know nothing about it.
Fortunately, I have a good friend, Roger Lodge (current California sports radio host, former host of Blind Date), and he helped me out a lot. I really did have to dig deep into it because if I wasn’t believable as this coach, then there’s no show. And I didn’t know what was going to happen.
“I prepped as much as I could. I talked to people. I read books, John Wooden (legendary UCLA basketball coach) stuff and Bobby Knight (Legendary Indiana coach). And by the way, that guy’s funny, Bobby Knight. But I didn’t know.
“The first day of shooting the show, I was finishing Fuller House. And it was in the backyard, and the girls were getting married, and it was a whole wedding, and it was speeches, and very emotional and sweet. And then I drove across town, and I had to scream at these college kids and throw a chair and have all this anger. And I don’t know where— I think a little bit of it was my father.
John Stamos arrives at the American Music Awards on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater … [+] in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Invision
“He was sort of a gruff guy— loving guy, but gruff. And just the writing, I trusted the writing, and it just kind of fell into place. But I constantly have to sort of work hard on the terminology and just the— I’m not a jock. I just didn’t come from that world. My dad said, ‘You go out of your way to hate sports.’ Someone always had to lose.
“I tried to golf. My dad was a golfer, and I wanted to spend time with him, so I took lessons. I said, ‘Dad, let’s go.’ And I went to the thing and I sliced the ball. And it flew right past a woman who’s maybe 85 years old, missed her temple by that much. My dad said, ‘Put the club— get in the car.’ But I could have killed somebody. So I said that’s it for sports for me.”
Taking on the role gave Stamos a new perspective on sports.
“I really do have a newfound respect for sports, especially women’s sports,” the Cypress, California native said. “We talk a lot about the inequality, which is an important thing to get out there. I talk about getting the high schools, the championship game on ESPN, because they only broadcast the boys.
“It’s,’Why?’ Girls actually— they play the sport better. They’re better at it. It’s better to watch. It’s more interesting to watch these women. And I’m glad that we get that across as well.”
John Stamos presents the award for favorite villain at the Kids’ Choice Awards at the Galen Center … [+] on Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
2017 Invision
Stamos’ performance in the series garnered accolades from an unlikely radio legend, John’s friend Howard Stern.
“The last interview (with Howard) I did, I was waiting for my turn to have that in-depth, deep hour-and-a-half interview, and we did it last time for Big Shot,” John said. “He called me. He watched.
“I was getting ready to do the show, and they sent him the links for the last season. And I’m getting a call, and it’s Howard calling me. And first of all, it’s pretty rare you get a call from him. He’s a busy guy. And I thought, ‘Oh, Ralph (Cirella, Howard’s friend, on-air personality) is dead, probably. Why is Howard calling?’
“And it turns out that he watched all the episodes. And Beth (Stern’s wife) played high school basketball. And I mean, he talked about the show like it— it was really one of the greatest calls I’ve ever gotten. And then he called me when Bob (Saget) passed away, and we talked for an hour. And it was like— again, it just shows his character. And people may think that he’s just a shock jock. He’s a good man and a good friend.”
Another Disney project the actor tackled this year is voicing Iron Man/Tony Stark for the Spidey and His Amazing Friends (Disney, Disney Jr.) animated series. John approached the role with respect for the iconic character and incorporated some old and new takes on the Marvel legend, only to learn he may have been taking the gig a little too seriously.
“I did overthink it, and I’m not a Marvel guy either. My wife is [into Marvel],” Stamos said. “And so I did a deep dive. The talent that they put in these movies early on, Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth (Paltrow), what a smart— what a brilliant franchise. I get why it’s so popular.
“It was a little daunting because it’s such an important character, and I wanted to be respectful, But I kind of came in with a little bit of Downey, a little rhythm in my voice and stuff, and they’re like, ‘No, no, no. Don’t do that, don’t do that.’ First of all, it’s for three or four-year-olds, and because I was starting to call [characters] nicknames… But it finally has settled into, ‘That’s my version of Tony Stark and Iron Man.’
ANAHEIM, CA – AUGUST 01: In this handout photo provided by Disney Resorts, John Stamos and his son … [+] pose with Iron Man at Disney California Adventure Park on August 01, 2022 in Anaheim, California. The second season of “Spidey and his Amazing Friends” premieres on Disney Channel and Disney Junior on August 19, 2022. (Photo by Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)
Getty Images
“And it started to work. Really, I’m just trying to get my kid to think I’m cool. I’m just doing everything I can. I was on Mickey’s Funhouse, [where] I play a pirate.
“I really enjoy doing it. It’s just a way to get out there to entertain people. This world is … we need comfort food. We need good quality programming. We need, hopefully, good role models out there preaching love and happiness and appreciation and gratitude.”
The parents watching John’s Disney projects today have a special bound with the performer after growing up watching him play “Uncle Jesse” on Full House in the late 80s to mid-90s and now, they get to share his work with their children.
“I am happy to have [the bond]. This world is in a— I don’t need to tell you, it’s a little topsy-turvy right now, and we need shows like this,” Stamos said. “We need comfort food right now. And I think I could be part of that. That’s what I think about it.
“I really haven’t thought about it [much], but … I think people could look to me now and feel safe. And again, it’s like comfort food. I’ve been coming into people’s homes for 40 years, so that’s a great in. … So they go in that way, and then they trust me to take them on a pretty fun, interesting journey.”
After a long, lucrative career in Hollywood that remains steady and with a four-year-old son at home, John’s learned to appreciate “microtransactions” or the little special moments in life that are gone too soon, especially for parents.
I said in the very first episode (of Big Shot) last year, ‘Can you look in the mirror at the end of the day and say, ‘I did my very best today?’ ‘Was I loving? Was I the best father I could be?’” Stamos recalled. “Last night, [my son] was coming home from Disneyland and he was asleep.
“And I’m taking him, was going to set him down in his room quietly. And I had so much to do. I had to get ready for this, and I had other stuff. And I’m sneaking out and he goes, ‘Dad.’ I’m like, ‘Oh.’ ‘Could you read me a story?’ And in my mind, I was like, ‘I got so— yes.’”
The actor whose looks and charm earned him a devoted following as Uncle Jesse in the sitcom “Full House,” and who currently stars as the intense coach of a high school girls’ basketball team in the Disney+ series “Big Shot,” talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about the impact of the death of his friend Bob Saget, and how the future looks today.
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Correspondent Tracy Smith asked actor John Stamos, “Do you feel like you’re having a moment?”
“I hope I am,” he replied. “But then, if you have a moment, then that moment has to end, right? Or something. [Still], I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
If John Stamos is happier these days, it could be because he’s about to start the second season of the Disney+ series “Big Shot,” about a hot-headed college basketball coach who gets fired and ends up coaching a high school girls’ team with a certain intensity.
Smith asked, “Is it difficult for you to play a hard ass?”
“No,” he replied. “That comes pretty easy.”
To watch a trailer for the series “Big Shot” click on the video player below:
Truth is, Stamos might be one of the nicest people alive, even if he’s not, by his own admission, much of a sports guy. “It’s the jacket,” he explained after missing a shot.
But he is someone who seems to be hitting his stride, on screen and off. In the past four decades, Stamos has become something of a fixture in our lives: He’s the heartthrob who won’t ever break your heart … the friend who won’t ever let you down … and from here to Broadway, someone who’s been called one of the truly underrated actors in the game.
These days, he’s also a husband and a father. He married actor and model Caitlin McHugh in 2018, just before the birth of their son, Billy. It was the end of what he says was maybe one of the longest childhoods in history.
“I went into becoming an adult kicking and screaming,” he said. “And when you have the whole world going, ‘You look 20,’ I didn’t have any of those tent poles that say you’re an adult, right? I was just skatin’ through.”
“You didn’t have to grow up?”
“I didn’t have to. I had Peter Pan syndrome, which is dangerous, you know?”
The boy who didn’t want to grow up was born in Orange County, California in 1963. John was the first of Bill and Loretta Stamos’ three children, and even as a kid, little John seemed destined for the stage.
“I wanted to be famous,” he said. “I wanted to be famous so bad! And then once I got it, I loved it. I still do. You know, these people go, ‘Oh, I hate being famous, taking pictures.’ If you see me somewhere, ask for a picture. I’m happy to do it, because it’s what I wanted my whole life.”
Actor John Stamos.
CBS News
He skipped college to try his hand at acting, and landed a role as Blackie Parish on the long-running soap “General Hospital.”
But his star really took off in 1987, when he was cast as Uncle Jesse Katsopolis in the TV series “Full House.”
“‘Full House’ comes along, I’m not gonna lie, it was very difficult, a lot of it. A lot of it was,” he said.
Why? “Because it just wasn’t where I saw myself. You know, the reviews were like, ‘This show won’t last ’til Thanksgiving.’ And now, I’m so proud of it. Now I’m really happy that I did that show. I’m glad I did it, obviously.”
John Stamos and Bob Saget in the sitcom “Full House.”
ABC
Whatever his feelings about “Full House,” it made John Stamos a next-level star, and gave him a best friend in co-star Bob Saget.
At Stamos’ 50th birthday bash in 2013, Saget toasted his friend: You deserve so much happiness and you are so full of love and you are such a great person. And the talent and the looks everybody resents, but you’re just a heart, and I just love you very, very much.”
The two were practically inseparable, and when Saget died this past January after a fall in a Florida hotel room, Stamos was shattered.
Stamos said, “I don’t know what else to say about it other than obviously … one of the biggest influences in my life was Bob. I wouldn’t be who I am without Bob. My parents, now that’s obvious. But him, you know, he was there for everything, all the good, all the bad. He was my brother, you know? He’s the brother that that I always wanted.”
At his house, Stamos showed Smith Saget’s guitar, which his wife gave to him. “You can only play dirty songs on here,” he said.
Stamos is a collector: his home is filled with photos of heroes who became friends. He’s also collected a few screen credits, like a long-term part on the hit series “ER.”
With looks, charm, and a star on the Walk of Fame, it always seemed like Stamos had the perfect life. But there were times, he said, when he didn’t always want to live it. “For the longest time, when I was not sober, when I was fuzzy, I thought, ‘I’ve done it all.’ I didn’t wanna kill myself, but I didn’t care if I died.”
“You didn’t care if you died?”
“I said, ‘I’ve done it all. I’ve done … if I die tomorrow, it’s okay.’ What was I thinking? I hadn’t done it all; I still haven’t done it all, not even close.”
He said, “You know, that fateful night of, I got in my car, I thought I could drive, and I couldn’t. I just have flashes in my mind about driving in circles. And people were driving near me and they would roll the window down, ‘Uncle Jesse, pull over!’ And I went to rehab, and it was the hardest thing ever.
“My friend said, ‘You know, your mom was really worried about you.’ He said my mom would call him and say, ‘I’m worried about Johnny.’ ‘Cause I thought I was fooling everybody. Anyway, that was that. So, when that happened, I said, I can’t screw this up now. I have to stay with this.”
And here’s something you might not know about Stamos: he’ s a hell of a drummer. He’s been playing with the Beach Boys and co-founder Mike Love since the 1980s. Love even officiated John and Cailtin’s wedding.
“You know how they say don’t meet your heroes?” Stamos said. “I’m glad that I met him, ’cause he’s everything that you’d want Mike Love to be.”
John Stamos at the drums.
CBS News
And maybe, after a few decades of figuring it out, John Stamos is everything he wants to be, too.
Smith asked him, “What’s the future look like?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he replied. “More kids, I hope. But I’m not looking too far in advance. I’m just thinking about now. ‘Cause the next moment might be someone, you know, gone, right?”
“And this moment’s pretty great?”
“This is a great moment. Winnie the Pooh said something like, ‘Today is my new favorite day.’ Making these new memories, and it’s, you know, my new favorite day. Today is my new favorite day.”
