Warning: This article contains spoilers for season 3 of Claim to Fame.
Claim to Fame season 3 contestant Jill Kurlfink is close with her celebrity relative, John Stamos, but even she learned some new information from his 2023 memoir, If You Would Have Told Me.
“Obviously, some of the things that he talks about in the book I was here for and I also experienced, but while I was reading it, it was kind of cool to learn the more in-depth version of things that were going on,” Jill exclusively told Us Weekly following her elimination during the Wednesday, July 17, episode of the show after Stamos, 60, was revealed to be her uncle. “Because I was so young during some of it, obviously my parents were telling me things that [were] a little bit of a lie to protect me.”
Stamos opened up about his struggles with alcoholism in the book, recalling how he “drank a bottle of wine just to forget what just happened” after he got a DUI in 2015. (In November of that year, the actor pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor of driving under the influence and was sentenced to three years of probation).
In his memoir, Stamos cited lingering grief from his 2005 divorce from Rebecca Romijn and the 2014 death of his mother as the reasons for his troubled state of mind.
John Stamos Saw Rebecca Romijn as ‘The Devil’ During Divorce: I ‘Hated Her’
“My marriage has busted up, but it’s the loss of my mom, Loretta, who died nine months ago, that has me spiraling. She kept me anchored, solid, and straightened out for most of my life. I’m feeling adrift and alone without her. Empty,” he wrote in the book.
Stamos has since gotten sober and moved on with wife Caitlin McHugh, whom he married in 2018. The pair share 6-year-old son Billy.
While Stamos’ niece Jill learned more about dark chapters in the Full House alum’s life from reading his book — she had a copy sitting next to her while speaking to Us — she said that “one of the most amazing things” about reading the memoir was “hearing stories” about her late grandparents.
“I was super close with my grandma growing up. My grandpa actually passed away six weeks after I was born, so it was so cool being able to hear these stories that I’ve never heard before and just kind of experience that as well,” Jill told Us.
John Stamos Got to Be ‘Arm Candy’ at Wife Caitlin McHugh’s Movie Premiere
Jill was eliminated from Claim to Fame after she incorrectly guessed that her costar Miguel is related to Antonio Banderas. While her time on the show was brief, she noted that Stamos was “so supportive” of her decision to appear on the reality series.
“He was actually the first person I called after I got off of the phone finding out a little more information about the show, and I was like, ‘Have you ever heard of this [show]?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I actually just watched the last season, it’s so funny,’” Jill recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m kind of in the running to do it,’ and he was like, ‘That is amazing. You’re gonna be incredible.’ He instantly turned into this just, like, protective uncle that was encouraging me and telling me tips and being there for me during the whole process.”
Jill also shared that she was “definitely a fan” of Stamos’ hit sitcom Full House growing up.
“I mean, everyone calls him Uncle Jesse, but to me, he’s Uncle John, and he is just amazing,” she said. “I’m so proud of everything that he’s done, and he’s been there for me in some of the darkest times and I just hope that I made him proud.”
Claim to Fame airs Wednesdays on ABC at 9 p.m. ET.
