John Stamos opened up about how he really felt when his "Full House" co-stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen decided not to reprise their roles in "Fuller House."
The 59-year-old actor starred alongside the now 36-year-old twins for eight seasons from 1987 to 1995. He played Jesse Katsopolis, the uncle of Mary-Kate and Ashley's character Michelle Tanner.
In 2016, Stamos returned for the Netflix sequel but the Olsens were the only main original cast members who never made an appearance during the revival's five season run.
"When I did 'Fuller House,' they didn’t wanna come back and I was angry for a minute and that got out," Stamos said during a recent appearance on "Glee" stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz's "And That’s What You REALLY Missed" podcast.
The "You" star remembered that he and his fellow "Full House" co-star, the late Bob Saget, "didn't really become close" until after the show ended. The comedian, who played Danny Tanner, the father of Mary-Kate and Ashley's character, died in January 2022 at the age of 65.
JOHN STAMOS ‘DISAPPOINTED’ MARY-KATE, ASHLEY OLSEN DIDN'T RETURN FOR ‘FULLER HOUSE’
Stamos went on to recall a conversation that he had with the twins after Saget's death.
"He was very instrumental in keeping us all together," Stamos said of Saget and the "Full House" cast.
"The twins moved to New York and bought New York," he joked. "I think they own New York now. And I gotta tell you too, one of the only good things to come out of Bob’s, well... Mary-Kate and Ashley, we hadn't really seen them much. I mean, we stayed in touch a little bit but Bob really did. And they were so great and they just said all the things…"
The "ER" alum continued, "You hear rumors, 'Oh, they hated their childhood or they hated being on the show or whatever.'"
"But they were, like, 'We loved our childhood. We loved being with you. We miss Bob,'" he shared. "They came over to my house. They brought a pork chop and sage. I don’t know why, but thank you? It was a frozen pork chop, so that was really nice. We stayed very close."
Mary-Kate and Ashley were only 9 months old when they began playing the role of the youngest Tanner daughter, which they shared due to child labor laws. Stamos recently admitted that he got the twins briefly fired from the show due to their incessant crying as babies.
"I couldn’t deal with it," Stamos said during an appearance on the "Good Guys" podcast, hosted by Josh Peck and Ben Soffer.
"I said, ‘This is not going to work.' And so they got rid of them," the California native said.
"They bring on these two-red-headed kids. I’m sure their parents loved them and thought they were attractive," Stamos added. "It was only a few days, and I said, ‘Bring the Olsen’s back! These kids are terrible.’"
After "Full House" wrapped, the Olsen twins appeared in movies including "It Takes Two" and "New York Minute" as well the television shows "Two of a Kind," "Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!" and "So Little Time."
However, both decided to retire from acting to focus on their fashion brand The Row, which they founded in 2006. In 2007, the two launched a second apparel line Elizabeth and James, which was named after their siblings.
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In 2016, "Fuller House" executive producer Brad Boyett revealed a conversation that he had with the twins when he approached them to appear in the reboot.
"Ashley said, 'I have not been in front of a camera since I was 17 and I don't feel comfortable acting,'" Boyett told People magazine. "Mary-Kate said, 'It would have to be me because Ash doesn't want to do it. But the timing is so bad for us.'"
In 2021, Stamos shared his thoughts on their decision to opt out of "Fuller House" during an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen."
"We were disappointed, but we understood," the "Grandfathered" actor said.
He continued, "I remember Lori [Loughlin] saying to me, ‘They won two or three CFDA Awards [Council of Fashion Designers of America]. That’s like winning two or three Oscars. If you won three Oscars, would you come back and do this?’ I was like, ‘Eh, maybe not.'"
