John Stamos Became A Father At 54 Only After He Met The 'Right Person' — Credits His Wife For Changing His Life

Dec 15, 2021

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." More 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 on "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 finally he met 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 was born in April 2018, and ever since, John has been a doting dad, frequently posting to his social media channels.

Even with all of 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 PEOPLE 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." He later told ET:

"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.”

Well, thankfully he found the perfect woman in his then-future wife, Caitlin McHugh. In the same interview with US Weekly, he described McHugh as a "gentle, kind, graceful soul who would be a good mother." They both clearly knew that this relationship was the one and therefore wasted little time in taking the next steps. By October 2017, Stamos 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 Stamos. As the actor wrote on his Instagram post revealing their engagement:

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

In April 2018, their son, Billy Stamos, was born. Named after Stamos' dad, the actor 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."

For his 57th birthday last year, John posted two gorgeous photos to his Instagram — one of his wife and son on the beach, and another of him and Billy smiling widely at the camera.

Stamos spoke to PEOPLE in August 2021 and said that his dreams have come true thanks to McHugh and their son. As the couple parents their "mischievous" 3-year-old, they rely on date nights and open communication to make their relationship stronger. "I forget what the magic ratio is, but I think it's about having more positive reactions over negative," McHugh told PEOPLE. "It's nice to connect over something else — it's not always about the kid. We're still trying to find the balance!"

Stamos had a lot of appreciation for his wife as well and called her an "incredible mom." Regardless of the challenges they face as parents, Stamos said that this life is "is what I always wanted," and added, "My dreams came true 100 times over."

The couple is clearly enjoying their fairytale love story, and they've even started a jewelry line named St. Amos Jewelry, of which 100% of proceeds are donated to the Childhelp Foundation. 

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