John Stamos Waited For ‘The Right Person’ & Found His ‘Perfect’ Wife In His 50s

Aug 06, 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." 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-1990s, 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 finally, he met model and actress Caitlin McHugh and their story is an absolutely adorable one. After they met while working together, the couple's romance didn't begin immediately. But eventually, things fell into place. John proposed at McHugh's favorite place in the world — Disneyland — and 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.

John and McHugh’s love story is proof that love can happen at any age.

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 he played Uncle Jesse, it was clear that he 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 him, 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, McHugh, who he started dating in 2016. In the same interview with ET, 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, 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 it ended with "The Little Mermaid's" Sebastian, who said, "Just ask the girl" to John. The actor wrote on his Instagram post that revealed their engagement:

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

With such a fairytale proposal, it was only fitting that John and McHugh had an absolutely beautiful wedding. However, there was a slight hiccup. According to Us Weekly, some thieves broke into McHugh’s hotel room at the Beverly Hills Hotel the day before her wedding and stole $165,000 worth of jewelry.

Fortunately, the couple’s actual wedding day went much smoother. According to Us Weekly, John and McHugh tied the knot on Feb. 3, 2018, in a romantic church service at the Little Brown Church in Studio City, California. 

Afterward, a huge celebration was held at John’s home in Beverly Hills. McHugh had been pregnant at the time and looked stunning in her white wedding dress. Her long hair flowed and was partially clipped back. John donned a dark suit with a matching bow tie. At the time of their wedding, McHugh was 31 years old, while John was 54 years old.

It’s hard to believe that almost a decade prior to his wedding, John had spoken with PEOPLE about what it was like being single and how he was waiting to find that special someone. He said, “I sound like a woman now, but I don’t want to just give myself to anybody, you know what I mean?”

Just over two months after their wedding, John and McHugh welcomed their first son together. It was clear that John's status as everyone’s favorite uncle on television had gotten an upgrade.

On April 16, 2018, John went on Instagram to share the heartwarming news. He posted a picture of himself holding his newborn son and captioned the photo:

“From now on, the best part of me will always be my wife and my son. Welcome Billy Stamos (named after my father). #NotJustanUncleAnymore #Overjoyed.”

John was known as a bit of a bad boy back in the day, or at least that was the image he portrayed on screen. Today, his life is very different, and he couldn't be happier.

"I always wanted to have kids, but I didn't think I'd meet the right person," John said to PEOPLE. "And maybe I felt like well, I have everything, I shouldn't be greedy."

The actor credits his wife for helping him straighten out his life. "I wasn't deserving of it yet I think. But six years ago, I sobered up and I became a better person. And when Caitlin came around, I recognized it immediately. I said, 'I have to be good for that to make it work,'" he said.

When the couple first met, they didn't know they would one day share blissful family life with each other. As John told PEOPLE in 2017, the both of them met each other on the set of the popular TV show "Law & Order: SVU" in 2011, long before they even started dating. In hindsight, the characters they played turned out to be especially ironic, as John explained:

"I played a guy who was so egotistical that he thought he should spread his progeny, so he had like 60 kids or something. He was poking holes in condoms and stuff. And Caitlin, ironically, was one of the girls that I was trying to fool and have a baby with."

In 2019, the actor also told PEOPLE in another interview that he'd always wished for a big family and a wonderful woman to share his life with. Speaking candidly, the actor explained:

"I waited a long time for a kid. I just had to meet the right person to do it with."

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