At 60, John Stamos Is Right Where He’s ‘Supposed To Be’ – With Wife Caitlin & Son Billy

Sep 15, 2023

John Stamos has been a household name since the early 1980s when he rose to fame in the role of Blackie Parrish on "General Hospital." Additional TV work eventually led him to his most iconic role as Uncle Jesse on "Full House," and this only cemented his status as a handsome hunk of his time. The last few decades have seen the actor continue to work in television and even reprise his role in the reboot, "Fuller House."

But beyond his acting work, John has also had quite the journey in love. After dating and marrying model Rebecca Romijn in the mid-'90s, the couple ended up divorcing 10 years later. In the following years, John wasn't linked to anyone romantically, so it was all the more heartbreaking when he began to voice his desire to have children. It's funny to think that although his character in "Full House," Uncle Jesse, was the rather irresponsible one, John was nothing like that in real life. It seemed that the heartthrob was then just waiting to find the right woman to settle down with.

Then, he finally met the model and actress Caitlin McHugh and their story is an absolutely adorable one. After meeting while working together, the couple's romance didn't begin immediately. But eventually, things fell into place. After proposing at McHugh's favorite place in the world — Disneyland — the couple announced they were expecting their first child together in 2017. Their son Billy Stamos was born in April 2018, and ever since, John has been a doting dad, frequently posting to his social media channels.

Having turned 60 in 2023, John is clearly living the life he always wanted and expressed that he’s content with where he stands right now in his life and his career.

Born in California on Aug. 19, 1963, to a second-generation Greek-American restaurateur, John's last name is actually a shortened form of his birth name, Stamatopoulos. He decided he wanted to be an actor early on, and after only three weeks he lucked out and got his first role as Blackie Parrish on "General Hospital." What an entry into Hollywood!

John made his name on the show and was even nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1984. But it wasn't until the late '80s when he appeared in "Full House" that John truly made his mark on Hollywood. He played Jesse Katsopolis, having asked the producers to give his character a Greek name to honor his heritage. The show would propel Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, young girls at the time, into the stratosphere while also cementing the careers of a number of other actors, including John's close friend Bob Saget.

After the show ended in 1995, John played a varied number of roles often grounded in comedy, even appearing in episodes of "Friends," "Glee" and "Two and a Half Men." He even went back to the medical world, appearing in "ER" as Dr. Tony Gates from 2005 to 2009.

But fans of "Full House" couldn't believe it when Netflix announced in 2015 that they would be reviving the show, to be called "Fuller House," for a 2016 release.

The 60-year-old actor also played the lead role in the 2021 sports dramedy "Big Shot" as a basketball coach at a private girl’s school. Reviews of the show have mostly been positive, with Entertainment Weekly critic Kristen Baldwin writing that John is “capable of delivering dry wit and sweet sentiment in equal measure.”

It was also in the period after "Full House" had ended that John got married for the first time. To the dismay of women everywhere, the actor found love with model Rebecca Romijn, whom he had met at a Victoria's Secret fashion show — in which she was modeling — in 1994. The couple famously dated before getting engaged in 1997 and marrying in 1998. Unfortunately, their union wouldn't last, with John filing for divorce in 2004, with it being finalized in 2005. The actor didn't appear to be in a relationship for some time after their marriage ended, opting instead to focus on his career.

After shifting his focus to his career when his marriage ended, John found himself as successful as ever but without anyone to share that with. Well, that all changed when he met model and actress Caitlin McHugh. Although the couple didn't start dating until 2015, they actually first met in 2011 when they both appeared on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU." 

When they co-starred together, McHugh was in a relationship, so nothing happened at the time. Then years later, her roommate appeared in an episode of "Fuller House" and McHugh found herself on the set in the audience. That's when they crossed paths again, with John recounting the story in the same interview with People:

"I walked in, I went, ‘Hey, are you stalking me?’ She was like, ‘No.’ … That’s why I love her. She’s like, ‘What? No. I haven’t thought of you twice.'"

With two coincidences surrounding how they met up, there are certainly signs that these two lovebirds were meant to be. After finding true love, they turned their focus to marriage and children.

Both John and McHugh clearly knew that this relationship was the one and therefore wasted little time in taking the next steps. By October 2017, John had proposed to McHugh after two years of dating. The proposal took place at Disneyland — McHugh's favorite place in the world — and happened after they watched an incredibly sweet video. It featured some of the most romantic scenes from Disney and Pixar movies, before ending with "The Little Mermaid"'s Sebastian saying "Just ask the girl" to John. As the actor wrote on his Instagram post revealing their engagement:

"I asked...she said yes! ...And we lived happily ever after💍" 

Just two months after announcing they were engaged, they revealed McHugh was pregnant! It turns out they had tried to have a baby, and upon learning they had conceived, John insisted on proposing straight away. He told People:

“We have the same morals and the same values, that all clicked nicely. So we said, ‘Oh, well, maybe we should have a family.'" 

He goes on to say that McHugh suggested they should have a child before they got married. When John asked her "Why?" she replied jokingly, "Because you're old." John goes on to explain how the timing of the pregnancy and proposal occurred:

“The (pregnancy) happened. Then I said, I better have a ring on her finger because it’s the right thing to do, and I wanted to marry her anyway. So I called her parents to ask, and it was like, 'You better!'"

Five months after getting engaged, the couple got married in a small service in Los Angeles while McHugh was glowing during her pregnancy. Just a few months after that, she would give birth to their son William Christopher Stamos, whom they endearingly call Billy.

Despite his success as an actor, it seems that the role John wished to play all his life was as a father. Even while playing Uncle Jesse, it was clear that John had the dad gene in him. In fact, his co-stars on "Full House," Candace Cameron Bure, Andrea Barber and Jodie Sweetin, told ET that John was the "baby whisperer" of the cast. It turns out, there were always children in the future for John, as he once joked to US Weekly that he wanted children so badly that his "ovaries were rattling." 

"It's just taken me a lot longer than I anticipated. It would be a tragedy if I didn't have children and I finally found the right woman — the perfect woman,” he told Entertainment Tonight. 

Named after John's dad, the actor welcomed his first child and shared the news with the world by posting a beautiful black-and-white photo of him cuddling his newborn son. He captioned the post, "From now on, the best part of me will always be my wife and my son." In his usual cheeky style, he even added the hashtag "#NotJustAnUncleAnymore."

It’s clear fatherhood really suits John. To celebrate his son’s third birthday in 2021, the star shared a video montage on Instagram featuring the birthday boy in a series of fun and adorable bathroom selfies with his father. As if the birthday tribute couldn’t get any more heartwarming, John also set the slideshow to The Beach Boys' “God Only Knows,” an emotional love song from the 1960s.

“I can’t put into words the magnitude of the love I feel for this little guy. Happy Birthday Son. God only knows what I’d be without you. #aftershowerseries,” John wrote on Instagram alongside the shower selfie slideshow.

In an April 2021 interview with ET, John opened up about his relatively new role as a father.

"It's much harder than I ever thought," John told ET. "I've been around kids my whole life, on TV shows (and) my nieces and nephews. I also wanted to be a father, and my wife does most of it, but boy is it a responsibility."

While John was a parenting novice in his mid-50s, he took his role as a father seriously.

"At the end of the day, you don't want a trophy and you don't 'win,' you don't get a ring. But if you do it right, you've raised a kid that's loving enough, that's smart enough, and that's caring enough to be a better version of yourself," John said in his interview with ET. "I get choked up thinking about it."

As for what sage advice John planned on teaching his son, the actor explained that he wanted Billy to always strive to do his best.

As John turned 60 on Aug. 19, 2023, he celebrated the golden milestone in the company of perhaps two of the most important persons in his life – his wife McHugh and son Billy. 

On Instagram, John had everyone reflecting on the good ol’ days as he posted a carousel of photos and videos of his favorite memories throughout the years. 

Among those photos and videos were some from back in the '90s when he was hanging out with the cast of “Full House,” a video with a dancing Tom Hanks and other videos of his birthday party celebrations.

Many were in disbelief at how John’s age doesn’t actually translate into how he looks. Among those was his loving wife, McHugh who posted a photo of them together in front of the sunset. 

“Can you believe this man is 60?! The only way he shows his age is in his wisdom and his extensive list of life accomplishments. I’m excited that he’s sharing his whole story, mind, heart, soul with you in his memoir to be released in October,” she captioned her post. 

A lot of John’s friends greeted him in the comment section, including Kristin Chenoweth, Daisy Fuentes, and Monica Fonseca, among many other fans.

But perhaps what got people talking was his adorable interaction with his son, Billy, in a video he posted. 

“I’m right where I’m supposed to be at 60! Thank you for all the birthday wishes and love. I hope to give back to you what you have given me, a wonderful life,” he wrote in the post. 

In the video, John lay in bed with Billy, as he told him how happy he was to be turning 60 and having a wonderful son like him. After introducing himself as John’s son, he told his father: “You don't look 60. You look, baby." In response, John quipped: "How old do I look? How old do you really think I look?" to which he emphasized that he looked "Baby. And also, you're 60."

The sweet interaction between John and Billy didn't end there. John asked: "You say anything about me in your prayers? Do you say 'Thank you God for daddy?'" Billy gave him a response any parent would love to hear: "Yes, I did."

Can you believe John Stamos is now in his 60s? What can you say about his adorable interaction with his son Billy? Do you think being an older parent is a good or bad thing? Let us know your thoughts, and then pass this along to all the Stamos fans you know!