Have mercy, indeed: If you grew up calling them "Uncle Jesse" and "Stephanie," this duo says it's time for a cancer prevention conversation.
John Stamos and Jodie Sweetin—better known as Uncle Jesse and Stephanie Tanner to generations of devoted TV viewers—have stayed busy since their Full House days. Stamos recently lit up the screen in the second season of Palm Royale, just wrapped filming on The Hunting Wives, and is hitting the road with the Beach Boys this month. Meanwhile, Sweetin co-hosts the Full House rewatch podcast How Rude, Tanneritos! with fellow Full House star Andrea Barber, and is bringing her comedy beauty pageant, Smoke Show with Jodie Sweetin, to the Netflix Is a Joke Festival on May 9.
But between projects, the two have reunited during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to get the word out on something a little closer to the heart. They say that if the Full House family felt like an extension of your own growing up—’80s babies, that means you—now could be just the right time to schedule your very first colon cancer screening.
To get the message out, the former co-stars are partnering with Cologuard, a non-invasive, at-home screening test, to raise awareness for a disease that remains the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States—and the current top case of cancer-related deaths in American adults under the age of 50. It’s important to note that Cologuard isn’t a substitute for a traditional colonoscopy, though past research shows it’s 92% effective at detecting cancer. But for the estimated one-third of Americans who delay or avoid screening altogether, Stamos and Sweetin argue that an accessible at-home option could be a crucial first step toward earlier diagnosis and better care.
In an exclusive interview with The Healthy, Stamos and Sweetin recently sat down to talk screenings, reunions, and what it means to use their platform for something that could save lives.
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The Healthy: Many of us were raised alongside the Full House family. What was it like to be a part of such a widely beloved show, and how does it feel, 40 years after it began, to still have a bond?
Jodie Sweetin: It’s so crazy to think that when I met John, I was barely five years old. I met this Full House family, and we’ve been family ever since. It’s an incredible story.
John Stamos: We never would have imagined at that first table read when Jodie was getting all the laughs that we’d still be talking about it 40 years later. But that’s the power of love, and it’s the power of this show. You know, there was no central character on Full House. The central character was love, I’d say. And that’s why, somehow, it’s lasted decades and generations. All of us are just embracing it as much as we can because we know what a privilege it is and what a phenomenon it’s become.
The Healthy: You two decided to team up with Cologuard, an early-detection test for colorectal cancer. Tell us more about why both of you wanted to be a part of this partnership.
Jodie Sweetin: We love when we get asked to do stuff like this that brings awareness to something important—particularly to an audience that’s the right age. Forty-five is when they want you to start getting tested [for colorectal cancer] and if you recognize us, you’re in that bracket, or you’re very close to it. So it’s great that we get to be a part of this beloved thing and also get to create awareness and advocate around something that has affected us both personally, with our friends and family.
John Stamos: We jumped at the chance to partner up with Cologuard because we have this platform that most people don’t, and people trust us. When you see the two of us on screen, when you watch Full House, it’s like a home-cooked meal—you’re safe. We’re not going to lie to you. We’re going to hug you. We’re going to tell you the truth. And so that’s why it made sense when they called me about Cologuard. We just feel that we’ve been given this gift, and we want to help people with it.
The Healthy: Some estimates suggest that one in three people who should be screening for colorectal cancer aren’t up to date. Why do you think that is—and how do we go about changing that stat?
John Stamos: When you hear “colon cancer” it’s like, the two unsexiest words on the planet: colon and cancer. And when you put them together, no thank you. But when I called my doctor and asked about Cologuard, he said, “You’ve already been using it. You’ve used it in the past.” So then I started doing some research. I did it yesterday. It was the easiest thing on the planet, and it took me two minutes. It was so simple as far as the packaging and the boxing and that you almost can’t mess it up. I’m someone who just grazes over instructions, but it’s so specific and clear.
Jodie Sweetin: I’ll add that people may think that [a colonoscopy] is the only way that you can screen, and so they’re really avoidant. A lot of people don’t want to drink the stuff and be in the bathroom all day. And there are a lot of people that don’t have medical insurance or can’t afford to take a day or two off of work to do that. So, hopefully this will make screening more accessible to people who might otherwise not be testing, or may be a bit hesitant about it.
John Stamos: If you’re over 45, ask your doctor about this. Just ask.
The Healthy: You’ve both watched people you love face cancer—including some from your Full House family. How did that experience change the way you think about your own health?
John Stamos: One of my best friends, [comedian] Jeff Ross, got colon cancer. And I asked him, can I talk about this? He said, “Yeah, tell them I almost died because I didn’t screen.” He didn’t do it until he was in his late 50s. He’s made it through, thank God, and he’s been very public about it… If he would have screened earlier, he wouldn’t have had to go through so much.
Jodie Sweetin: My best friend, Celia [Behar]—her younger sister, Julie, passed away from colorectal cancer. It’s been nine years now. She was 41 and was diagnosed when she was having a C-section. It was stage four, and she passed and left behind five kids. It was heartbreaking. And then another very dear friend of mine during Covid was diagnosed with Crohn’s, but she kept having issues. They gave her a test to take home, and she took it, and they called her right away. Within two weeks, she was in chemo and radiation and had surgery. And you know, this was the thing that caught it.
In the two weeks that we’ve been talking about this, I’ve had two friends get diagnosed who are under 50—it’s really scary, and it’s affecting people I love. With Cologuard, you can take this test—it’s easy. You don’t have to do the prep [for a colonoscopy]. No gowns, no tubes… it makes it so much easier, and, I think, more accessible for people to know that they can do this at home. Hopefully people will ask their doctors about getting screened.
John Stamos: I talked to [fellow Full House actor] Dave [Coulier] this morning, and he’s beat cancer twice. He’s dealing with some effects of the radiation in his throat, so he’s going through it again, poor guy. But he’s a fighter and he did all the right things. He was on top of getting scanned. I think we don’t realize now how prevalent cancers of all kinds are.
What we’re finding is that we need to be a lot more vigilant and keep up to date on our health in a lot of different ways. I mean, I’m so glad that Dave caught his cancer when he did, and that it was treatable. Hopefully we will get more people doing that so that we can avoid a lot of heartbreak and a lot of struggle across the spectrum of people who are dealing with this. It is pretty simple, when you weigh the pros and cons of it, to not avoid something that could be catastrophic. We want everyone to live a long time and continue to watch Full House re-runs.
The Healthy: Research shows that chronic stress can increase colorectal cancer rates and accelerate its progression. What’s the one thought or mantra you use to “reset” or “center” when the day is spiraling out of control?
John Stamos: “Don’t look at the news.” It’s the stress that’s killing people from all angles. We’re on top of things over in this family, but we try not to let it devour our days and our hearts and our minds. There’s enough stress in the world.
Jodie Sweetin: I meditate. One of the things that I always tell myself is: “This is just a moment in time. You’re going to get through it. You’re going to get around it. It’s going to pass, and other moments are going to come. It’s going to be okay.”
The Healthy: What’s the one meal you eat specifically to “be kind” to your body after a hard week?
John Stamos: See’s Candies. It’s a California company.
Jodie Sweetin: I’d say, after a hard week, I eat a cheeseburger. But if I’m trying to be kind to my body, I really try to just eat vegetables—the thing that I never want to do! I’m still a child in that way. But I will make myself a salad with pomegranate seeds and sunflower seeds and all different kinds of stuff in it… I try to just balance that out with the French fries and the cheese.
John Stamos: That’s the truth. It’s annoying to hear celebrities say, “I eat perfectly—everything I do is perfect.” We’re not perfect by any means, we just aim for moderation. But I do sure wish that organic, good, clean foods were less expensive and more available, especially to students.
The Healthy: You’ve worked together since 1987, but it’s great to see you still make time for play—most recently when you shot a fun dance video to Taylor Swift’s song, “Opalite.” What is one thing you do purely for the sake of play, with zero intention of it being productive or “healthy”?
John Stamos: That was actually our secret teaser for this partnership. We couldn’t say what we were doing, but we were shooting the commercial for the campaign. That video got about 8 million, maybe 10 million views? In retrospect, we just need to wear matching sweatsuits more often.
Jodie Sweetin: He did great. It was lovely.
John Stamos: You did great. Jodie was good. I wanted nothing to do with it!
Jodie Sweetin: For fun, I ride my bike a lot—to the gym, to the pharmacy, wherever. It makes me feel like a kid again. It’s nice to get some fresh air, to get out, to feel like I’m part of a neighborhood.
John Stamos: By the time this comes out, the commercial will be out, and we did some incredible biking in the commercial. We rode tandem down the street, we waved, we smiled at the birds. That’s what we really do for fun.
The Healthy: What’s one self-care habit you never skip, no matter how busy you are?
Jodie Sweetin: I journal. I do it every day. I find that that really grounds me along with my meditation—just trying to take some moments for stillness and to slow down. That’s a big one for me. Getting 10 minutes a day to yourself is hard sometimes when you’re a mom.
John Stamos: I brush my teeth every day!
The Healthy: That’s good!
John Stamos: But what else… I write little notes to my son because my mom did it for me, and I found them throughout the years. Yesterday, I was just sitting in the dentist’s office and noticed I was smiling. I realized I was thinking about him, so I wrote him a letter to him to open later. That’s my self-care.
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
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- Harvard MD: Don’t Ignore These 7 Possible Colon Cancer Signs, No Matter Your Age
- Colon Cancer and Poop: What to Watch For, According to a Colorectal Surgeon
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
