The 54-year-old veteran actor has had one of the longest reigns as Hollywood's most eligible bachelor, but now he says he long felt something was missing.
'I always wanted to be a dad,' the star tells PEOPLE. 'Clearly I had to do some work on myself first. I have a youthful thing.
'People say, ‘Oh, you look young.’ You start believing you’re gonna live to be 150. And then you wake up and go, ‘No, man, this is it. This is not a rehearsal.’ … People would say, ‘You should have a child.’ I was like, ‘That ship has sailed.''
After the death of his father, William, in 2001, Stamos spiraled out of control. Stamos attributes his father to keeping him humble in Tinseltown and tells how his father would still make him flip burgers at the family restaurant to keep him grounded.
'I just lost sight of who I was, who I should be,' he tells the publication. 'You start compromising your beliefs. It just gets further and further. Then you go, ‘Wait a minute.’ I wish I would’ve pulled it together sooner. I was heartbroken. I loved my dad. It broke my mother too.'
Stamos' 'bad' phase was also catalysed by the death of his mother, Loretta, in 2014 and he admitted himself to rehab shortly after.
'You have to be really honest with yourself and go, ‘I’ve been given everything. This is selfish,'' he says. 'I was so lucky to have all that great stuff growing up. How dare I not keep that with me? I had two great parents. How dare I be so selfish and think about myself so much? You have to surrender. You have to give up: I don’t know what I’m doing. My way’s not working.'
However, the star reveals that his parents would be proud of what he has achieved, and excited for the impending bundle of joy arriving next year.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
This article originally appeared on New Idea.