‘Full House’ Star Dave Coulier Opens Up About Life After Two Cancer Diagnoses

What would you tell people who are just getting a diagnosis of cancer or another illness that knocks them for a loop?

Allow people to help you. A lot of times, we don’t want help for the basic reason that I just stated — I’m very self-sufficient, and we’re not used to giving up control of our lives. So allow people to love you. There are many people who genuinely want to help in a sincere way. And they want to see you get through whatever you’re going through. 

What would you say to the caregivers? What do you want them to know? 

It’s important to keep dialogue going with people around you. Maintain your friendships and continue with your daily routines. Don’t just drop all that stuff. Just really try to live your life as well, because that will make a much healthier relationship through all of this. 

Tatiana Schlossberg, JFK’s granddaughter, just wrote about having cancer. Like you, she chose to be open about it. What motivates that? 

For me personally, having a voice meant that I could help people. It is hard for some people because you’re coming from such a weak position when you’re sick like this. And no one really wants to be a champion when you’re going through it. For me, it was a light-bulb moment of “I think I can help a lot of people by being honest, by disclosing exactly what I’m going through.”

My message hasn’t changed, even with this second diagnosis of carcinoma, which came out of left field. Early screening saved my life not just once but again, the second time. Had I not listened to my doctors, I would be in a world of hurt right now.

Coulier with his grandson, Chance. “I never thought I would fall in love with another little boy like I have," he says.

Courtesy Dave Coulier

Instead, you’re a new grandfather. How’s that?

It’s wonderful. I have one son [Luc, 35, whose mother is Coulier’s ex-wife Jayne Modean], and I never thought I would fall in love with another little boy like I have [with my grandson, Chance Lee]. And I’ve just fallen so in love with this little guy. I’m like, wow, that’s the light that I have to always look at. That’s going to give me strength because I need to be a great grandpa for him.

Before your diagnosis, were you living a healthy life? 

Well, it depends on how far we want to go back. It wasn’t really until 2016. I was a big drinker. I’ve been sober now, it’ll be six years January 1. I ate whatever I wanted. I’ve been an athlete my whole life. So I’m like, ‘I’ll just burn that hamburger off. I’ll burn this slice of pizza.’

My healthy journey really didn’t start until I was punched in the face with cancer. And then I started looking around, thinking, “Oh my gosh, everything in my life is toxic in some way.” And I thought, Oh, I can listen to my wife and Melanie [Coulier and Melanie Samuels are the cofounders of Live Well Lead Well, a holistic wellness company] and I can start eating better, which I did. 

Coulier, top left, remains proud of “Full House,” which ran from 1987 to 1995. “We really just tried to do the best and funniest shows that we could," he says. “And we had such incredible love and chemistry on our show, where we all still talk to each other.”

Bob D'Amico/ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Have you gotten a lot of support from your Full House family through your journey? 

Yes. John Stamos flew here to Michigan. I had lost all my hair, and so John got together with Melissa and said, “I want to make Dave laugh. I’m going to wear a bald cap and surprise Dave.” And it made me laugh so hard. Seeing John Stamos, who has this amazing shock of hair, bald, is really funny. And that he would go to that length to surprise me in my own home was pretty special. I’m gonna see John in two weekends.

Where will you be hanging out with John? 

We’re doing Steel City Con Dec. 5 and 6. We’ve done a couple of [celebrity conventions] before. The first one we did was me, John and Bob [Saget, who died in 2022] at MegaCon in Orlando, and we just thought, This is the craziest thing. We hear these stories from kids who are adults now: “I grew up watching the show, and now my kids will sit with me and watch Full House,” and “I had a really tough childhood, and I was bullied.” We never thought we’d be heroes to like a whole generation of kids. When you get that kind of feedback, it’s like, “I’m going back.” 

The shows resonate with me. And my 19-year-old daughter and grownup niece are huge fans. We have the DVDs, the box sets. It still makes them feel good.

And that wasn’t intentional. We didn’t write scripts saying, “We really want to get into the heads of kids and make kids feel good.” We just tried to do the best and funniest shows that we could. And we had such incredible love and chemistry on our show, where we all still talk to each other. And I always hear those kinds of stories. It’s video comfort food for kids. They feel very safe there. We’re really proud of that.

If you said, “We’re going to do a Fuller, Fuller House, everybody would be on board. I mean, they just can’t get enough. 

We’ll never say never. There might be a Fullest House, but that’s for another story! 

(From left) Bob Saget, John Stamos and Coulier in “Fuller House,” which ran from 2016 to 2020.

Mike Yarish/Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

What do you think Bob would have said to you?  

Bob would have made a joke that was very dark. I probably have 50 of them. Of those, I can probably say one or two that are quotable. But Bob would have said something, man, “You’re getting a lot of press with all this cancer. What kind of cancer are you getting next?” That would have been Bob.

What has kept you going through the worst days?

I lost my mom, my sister Sharon, and my niece Shannon all to cancer [like Coulier, they had the inherited BRCA1 mutations]. I watched the strength that they had throughout their journeys. And I went through it with them. 

Before my niece Shannon passed away at 29, she started a charity called Bras for a Cause. And it was women breast cancer survivors who make these incredible bras themselves. And then they do a runway show and model their bras. And I thought, She’s doing this when her body has been ravaged by chemotherapy.

I just looked back at the strength that my mom, my sister and my niece had and I thought, That’s where I’m going to pull my strength from. I’m going to watch what these three women went through. [Holding back tears] I’m sorry, I’m getting a little choked up. They gave me the strength to be able to make it through this and [to] try and help other people like they did. 

What are you hopeful for? 

I’m hopeful that my voice can make a difference, that early detection is everything. We’re seeing cancers at much earlier stages in people’s lives. Kids are getting colon cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Before I got my cancer diagnosis, I was going to hospitals and visiting kids. You see that, and it just crushes you. I hope that my voice can help some people realize that you don’t want to go through this. If you do the work on the front end, you’re not going to have to live this horrible back end. 

What are you looking forward to getting back to when treatments are done, in the new year?

Well, after December 31 I’m going to start playing ice hockey again. I built our home here. I went to contractor school during COVID and learned how to be a builder. And so we purchased this property here in Michigan. I have a tractor. We’re on Lake St. Clair, which is in the chain of the Great Lakes. So we have five acres, and it takes a lot of work. It’s kind of like a little farm on the water. So I love doing that. 

This is the area where you’re originally from?

It is, yeah. So Full House, full circle. I moved back home [from L.A.] because I have always loved the water. So I love fishing. I love boating. I love golf. I love playing hockey. And I love working here.