John Stamos Reveals the Exact Moment He Knew He Had to Get Sober
The Full House star stopped drinking eight years ago.
John Stamos got sober back in 2015, and now, he's sharing more about the incident that led him to make a change. In a new interview with People, the Full House star opened up about his sobriety, the exact moment that he knew he had to stop drinking, and how his wife, Caitlin McHugh Stamos, and their son, five-year-old Billy, support him. Stamos said of the period when he was still drinking, "I'm not a bad person, but I was doing crappy things." Read on to see what else the Full House star had to say.
RELATED: The Real Reason Kelly Ripa Stopped Drinking Alcohol.
A breakthrough moment for Stamos came in 2015.
In 2015, Stamos was charged with driving under the influence. This was a wake-up call for him.
"I had that DUI and I was like, 'I can't do this. I've got to straighten up,'" Stamos, whose memoir If You Would Have Told Me is out Oct. 24, told People. "That's when I was confusing the universe because I'm not a bad person, but I was doing crappy things."
He explained his alcohol addiction further, saying, "I had to sober up. I was just drinking too much. I just went low. I didn't go high. I just surrounded myself with people I shouldn't have been with."
Stamos said that remembering the DUI still affects him deeply to this day. "It's hard, but it's not because it's hard for a lot of people," he said of being sober. "It's not that hard for me because it's still so fresh in my mind that all I have to do is look at that picture of me in handcuffs on that street. I was sitting on a curb or whatever. It just makes me throw up right now just thinking [about it]. Never again."
In a previous interview with Howard Stern in 2016 (via People), Stamos said that in addition to giving up alcohol, he stopped using the prescription sleep medication Ambien, which he called the "hardest thing to kick."
RELATED: Hulk Hogan Shares How He Got Sober After "Vicious" Pain Pill Addiction
He was sentenced for the DUI.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, in November 2015, Stamos was sentenced in relation to the June 2015 DUI after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge. He was sentenced to three years of probation, and ordered to attend a three-month alcohol abuse program, two hours of drug and alcohol addiction counseling, and 52 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
He entered a rehab program.
Prior to being sentenced, Stamos entered a rehab program on his own accord. In September 2015, he opened up about it on Today.
"I had this moment, I had some time off, and I had a decision to make. So I took advantage of the time. And I made a choice, and I'm just so grateful I did," he said. The actor explained that he had gone "back and forth" over seeking this sort of treatment in the past, but took the plunge this time with the support of those close to him. "I had such goodwill behind me," he said. "A lot of people were like, 'Hey, John, go get healthy! We love you.' So it was time. I'm glad I did it … I feel better than I've felt in a decade. I feel very, very good."
In the Today interview, Stamos also shared that the death of his mother had him in a particularly bad place at the time. "Well, I lost my mother last year, and she was the love of my life—obviously a difficult time for me," he said.
RELATED: Brad Pitt Credits This Huge Star With Helping Him Overcome Addiction.
His wife and son are keeping him on the right path.
In his new interview with People, Stamos credited McHugh Stamos and their son, Billy, with providing the support he needs to remain sober.
"They have kept me on this path because going down the road of being sober and taking care of yourself, everybody tries. Everybody does it. You could get going for a little while. Then, it's like, 'I can drink again.' So it's staying on the path is what they mostly do for me," the 60-year-old said.
Stamos also said that he was lucky when he decided to go to rehab, because of the other forms of support he had and the job he knew he could return to. "I had a lot waiting for me, and I feel bad because a lot of people don't, because they burned their lives down," he said. "Luckily, I had my sisters, but I also had Fuller House. I got home and I think like a week later, we started Fuller House." The Full House sequel series streamed new episodes on Netflix from 2016 to 2020.
For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
