By Alesia Stanford for Dailymail.Com 7:28 p.m. Oct 20, 2023, updated 7:36 p.m. Oct 20, 2023
John Stamos says it was his 2015 drunk driving arrest that set him on the path to sobriety.
The 60-year-old actor, who revealed he was abused by his babysitter as a child, opens up about his recovery in his new memoir, If You Would Have Tell Me.
“I had a DUI and thought, ‘I can’t do this. I need to pick myself up,'” he told PEOPLE ahead of the book’s release.
“That’s when I confused the universe because I’m not a bad person, but I did shitty things.”
“I’m telling you, sobriety is a big deal,” he told The New York Times, recounting how his drinking may have influenced the course of his career.
Sobriety: John Stamos, 60, opens up about his journey to sobriety in his new book, “If You Would Have Tell Me” (pictured in Los Angeles in May)
“I went to a party or a meeting and I had to get a little drunk. ‘Hey, that makes me charming, that makes me funny – that makes me confused.’ And people saw that,” he recalled.
“There was chaos around me, women, business.” “If I had been on the right track 10, 15 years earlier, I would have been closer to being George Clooney than I am now,” he said.
In the book, the Emmy nominee writes that his “Full House” co-star and longtime friend Bob Saget was in his hospital room when he woke up.
“No judgment, just concern and love,” he wrote.
The singer and musician went to rehab shortly after his headline-grabbing arrest, which he says was initially challenging.
He described the process as “dark for a while” before it “started to get better” and that he actually “made a lot of really good friends” during his stay at the facility.
When he got out, the California native had a supportive family and a new job.
“Luckily I had my sisters, but I also had Fuller House,” he explained.
Arrest: The actor credits his 2015 arrest for driving under the influence as the moment he decided to get sober. “I thought to myself, ‘I can’t do this. I have to pull myself together,'” he told People (pictured in Beverly Hills in June 2015). Love: In the book, the Emmy nominee writes his “Full House” comedy. Star and longtime friend Bob Saget was lying in his hospital room when he woke up after his DUI. “No judgment, just concern and love,” he wrote (pictured in Los Angeles in April 2012)
“I came home and I think a week later we started Fuller House.”
“I’ve had a lot waiting for me and I feel bad because a lot of people don’t because they’ve burned their lives down,” he said.
The actor married actress and model Caitlin McHugh (37) in February 2018 and they had their son Billy in April of the same year.
“They kept me on this path because everyone is trying to be sober and take care of themselves. “Everyone does it,” he claims.
“You could go for a while. Then it’s like, ‘I can drink again,’ so staying on the path is what they do for me most of the time.”
The Scream Queens star said the memory of his arrest still stands out clearly in his mind.
Family: The actor married actress and model Caitlin McHugh (37) in February 2018 and they had their son Billy in April of the same year. “You kept me on this path,” the actor said matter-of-factly (pictured in Los Angeles in May). “If You Would Have Tell Me” is scheduled to be released on October 24th
“It’s still so fresh in my memory that all I have to do is look at the image of me in handcuffs on that street,” he said of the moment that changed his life.
“I was sitting on a curb or whatever.” I’m about to throw up just thinking about it [about it]” he said, adding, ‘Never again.’
“If You Would Have Tell Me” will be released on October 24th.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please call the SAMHSA hotline at 1-800-662-HELP.