Jodie Sweetin’s alcohol addiction began when she was just a teen after attending former “Full House” co-star Candace Cameron Bure’s wedding.
“Well, the first time I ever drank, I was like 14… and it was at Candace’s wedding, and I was just a blackout drinker,” Sweetin revealed on last Thursday’s episode of the “Skinny Confidential” podcast.
Candace, who portrayed Sweetin’s on-screen older sister in the ’90s sitcom, married Valeri Bure in 1996.
Jodie Sweetin’s alcohol addiction dates back to her co-star Candace Cameron Bure’s wedding. Getty Images
Sweeten recalled drinking for the first time at her “Full House” co-star’s wedding on the “Skinny Confidential” podcast. The Skinny Confidential/YouTube
Sweetin, 43, recalled grooving on the dance floor to “YMCA” at the reception, but couldn’t remember anything after that.
“It was awful and it was ugly and it was embarrassing and my mother was horrified,” Sweetin said.
The actress said that the waiter kept pouring her more wine while her mom was seated at another table on the other side of the room.
“Well, the first time I ever drank, I was like 14… and it was at Candace’s wedding, and I was just a blackout drinker,” she said. The Skinny Confidential/YouTube
Sweetin said that she consumed a lot of red wine. The Skinny Confidential/YouTube
“It was a lot of red wine and the bathroom was very white. Not a good mix,” she joked, describing herself as an “idiot” 14-year-old.
The next morning, Sweetin felt “awful” and embarrassed, but also said that something “clicked.”
“I was like, ‘Ooooh, that was fun. You didn’t give a s–t about anything. Like, you just, you don’t remember it,’” she remembered thinking.
Candace married Valeri Bure in 1996. WireImage
Candace portrayed Sweetin’s older sister in the show. ©Lorimar Film Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
By the time she was 15 or 16 years old, Sweetin became aware that she “drank and partied” in a different way than her friends.
“They were like, ‘Bro settle down,’” she said of her friends, noting that she would then go and find new groups of people that could match her partying habits.
“I’ve got to go find somebody that I can do these drugs with,” she explained her way of thinking.
Sweetin said she partied way harder than her friends when she was 16. Getty Images
“I always say, I would have struggled with addiction issues regardless of being on TV or not,” she said. Getty Images
Want more celebrity and pop culture news?
Start your day with Page Six Daily.
Thanks for signing up!
Sweetin believes that she turned to substances because she struggled with ADHD and wanted to make her “brain work better.”
The former child star entered treatment for addiction in her 20s and relapsed a few times — but doesn’t blame her fame for her struggle.
“I always say, I would have struggled with addiction issues regardless of being on TV or not,” she said.
Sweetin is now 16 years sober from alcohol. Getty Images
She has also been sober from pills for 13 years. Getty Images
“And to be fair, that gave me some of the ability to be able to find treatment and find help in ways that I might not have had I not worked as a child,” Sweetin continued. “But it’s very hard [when] you have to make all your mistakes publicly.”
Sweetin — who shares daughters Zoie, 17, and Beatrix, 14, with ex-husband Cody Herpin — found sobriety after having kids.
“It’s been up and down, but it’s been 16 years since I’ve drank alcohol and 13 years since I relapsed on meds with a car accident that I was in,” she shared.