John Stamos has spoken candidly about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his babysitter, his divorce from first wife Rebecca Romjin, and his sobriety in his upcoming memoir, If You Would Have Told Me.
The actor‘s tall, dark and handsome appearance made him instantly popular with viewers, but the Full House alumnus is also opening up about they ways his ‘playboy’ image negatively impacted his life.
Once he began starring as Blackie Parrish on General Hospital in 1982, he became a regular cover model for teen magazines.
The image of a ladies man was included on the first episode of Full House when it debuted in 1987.
One-night stand with Vanessa
His character, Uncle Jesse, entered the scene telling an anecdote about a one-night stand with an ‘incredible showgirl, Vanessa.’
People shared an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming memoir in which the actor reveals his struggle to live up to perception.
‘I’m lonely, but never alone. In a sober state, I’d have the pride, morals, and values to avoid the proverbial low-hanging fruit. But what fun is that?
‘Plus, I have an image to uphold. The “bon vivant” character, the c**ksman, the ladies’ man with a revolving bedroom door.
‘I can’t go on my friend Howard Stern’s show without him salivating over girls he thinks I slept with.
‘Or Jimmy Kimmel, another pal, who never misses the opportunity to paint me as the ultimate playboy. And who could blame them? I play into it 100 percent.
‘It’s flattering. It’s my solemn duty to uphold my status as “that guy” keeping the dream alive for all those average joes out there, giving them someone to live vicariously through.
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‘Who cares if it’s at the expense of my own happiness? What I don’t get is every time I play out the fantasy in real life, I’m giving away a little piece of me.
“Stop trying to charm the world,” my shrink, Phil Stutz, says. “You’ve already done that. Show them you’re an actor; that you’re the real deal.”‘
Life of a lothario
The actor admitted to CBS in August that his reputation as a lothario was much different than the life he was living.
‘I think people thought I was out doing a lotta things with a lot of women that I wasn’t,’ he said.
‘First of all, the thing that saved me most was I would go to bed around 8:00 at night. I was always asleep!’ he said.
The actor has been sober since 2015 and a one-woman man since tying the knot with wife Caitlin McHugh, 39 in February 2018.
Their son Billy was born in April of that year.
