Jodie Sweetin’s alcoholism began when she was still a teenager after attending the wedding of her former “Full House” co-star Candace Cameron Bure.
“Well, the first time I had a drink was when I was about 14…it was at Candice’s wedding and I was just a blackout drinker,” Sweetin revealed on last Thursday’s episode of the Skinny Confidential podcast.
Candice, who played Sweetin’s older sister on the 90s sitcom, married Valerie Bure in 1996.
Sweetin, 43, remembers getting excited on the dance floor to “YMCA” at the reception, but couldn’t remember anything after that.
“It was horrible, it was ugly, it was embarrassing, and my mom was terrified,” Sweetin said.
The actress said the waiter continued to pour her more wine while her mother sat at another table on the other side of the room.
“There was a lot of red wine and the bathroom was very white. Not a good combination,” she joked, describing herself as a “stupid” 14-year-old.
The next morning, Sweetin said she felt “horrible” and embarrassed, but also said something “just clicked”.
“I thought, ‘Oh, that was fun. You didn’t answer anything. Like, you don’t remember,'” she recalled.
By the time she was 15 or 16, Sweetin realized she was “drinking and partying” differently than her friends.
“They were like, ‘Brother, chill out,'” she said of her friends, before going on to look for a new group that matched her party habits.
“You have to find someone to administer the drugs with you,” she explained her thinking.
Sweetin believes he suffers from ADHD and turned to drugs to “make his brain work better.”
The former child star underwent treatment for addiction in her 20s and relapsed several times, but she doesn’t blame fame for her struggles.
“I always say, whether I was on TV or not, I would have struggled with addiction issues,” she said.
“And to be fair, it has allowed me to find treatment and help that I might not have had if I hadn’t worked as a child,” Sweetin continued. “But it’s very difficult to have to make all the mistakes public.”
Sweetin, who has daughters Zoe, 17, and Beatrix, 14, with ex-husband Cody Harpin, stopped drinking after having her children.
“I’ve had my ups and downs, but it’s been 16 years since I’ve had a drink and 13 years since I relapsed into drugs after a car accident,” she said.
