John Stamos needed to hit rock bottom to garner an accurate picture of his first marriage.
The Full House actor famously tied the knot with Rebecca Romijn in 1998, the same year her movie career took off — and his resentment grew. Stamos, 60, is now sharing a sober perspective on their 2004 divorce ahead of his upcoming memoir.
“My first marriage was shattering to me,” he told People in an interview to promote his book “If You Would Have Told Me,” published on Wednesday. “I was shattered for way too long, too. I mean, a year, okay, good. But it went on [for] years and years.”
Stamos had been in the Hollywood spotlight since Full House premiered on ABC in 1987 but found himself relegated to TV roles ever since. He reportedly met Romijn as a Victoria’s Secret model in 1994 and, though they married four years later, began to blame her for everything.
“In my mind back then, she was the Devil, and I just hated her,” Stamos told People. “I couldn’t believe how much I hated her, and it ruined my life.”
They were married for two years when Romijn joined the X-Men franchise and started to work with iconic directors like Brian De Palma. Stamos had a guest spot on Friends the year her X-Men sequel hit cinemas — and filed for divorce in 2004.
“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.”
He continued: “It was just the perception that people took, and maybe they weren’t wrong.”
The ER alum admitted that this was when he “really” began to “kind of drink a lot.” He was arrested for driving under the influence in 2015 and reportedly sentenced to three years of probation. Stamos ultimately found answers in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“I had a horrific DUI, which I am so embarrassed by,” he told Howard Stern in 2016. “I could have hurt somebody. It was really stupid and ignorant of me. And I hated myself for that. It was a bad, bad thing. So I said to myself, I have to stop this up and down.”
Stamos told People that he “would’ve never straightened up” or “known what real love is” without hitting rock bottom. He eventually realized Romijn wasn’t to blame for their divorce and admitted he had “some part” in it. He recalled that moment of clarity rather vividly:
“You start thinking ... ‘Oh, she wasn’t the Devil. Maybe I was as much to blame as her.’”
Stamos met wife Caitlin McHugh while newly sober on the set of Law & Order: SVU. He proposed at Disneyland in 2017, married McHugh in 2018 — and welcomed their first son later that year. For Stamos, his memoir is all about appreciating the silver linings:
“If I didn’t go through all the things, all the heartache, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
If You Would Have Told Me hits shelves October 24.