John Stamos opens up about a major heartbreak in his new memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me.” The “Full House” star alleges he found his ex-girlfriend Teri Copley cheating on him with his “rival” Tony Danza.
Copley denied the allegations, telling People in a statement they had already broken up. “I wondered, ‘What was John doing there?’ because we had broken up,” she told the outlet. “He just looked at me and shook his head, and walked away.”
TODAY.com has reached out to Copley and Danza for comment.
Stamos says his makeup artist passed on the message that Copley admired him on “General Hospital,” and wanted to go out with him. Months later, they did. He says his attraction was instant: “When Teri Copley and I meet for the first time for a casual date, she opens her mouth and speaks with a soft, breathless tone that makes me melt,” he says.
The two dated for a year. During that time, Stamos was on the road with his band. Stamos writes that soon, he started getting “busy signals and dial tones” when he tried to call.
Fighting the urge to not appear “desperate,” Stamos says he drove to Copley’s house while listening to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.”
Remembering the night, Stamos writes that he arrived at Copley’s house in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County to find all lights turned off and an unfamiliar black convertible Porsche in the driveway. In the back of the car, he finds a rolled-up poster of his girlfriend.
He enters Copley's guest house to see “four feet” protruding from the “shabby chic, floral print duvet that once kept me warm.
“My Tiny Dancer is in bed with Mr. Porsche Speedster. They are sleeping. I can’t tell who he is,” Stamos writes.
“My heart is beating out of my chest. My mind is racing, and the room is spinning. I feel like throwing up all over her white shag carpet. It’s my worst nightmare. I try to hold back tears. Time slows until I’m frozen. I can’t breathe. A few tears roll down my face, and it pisses me off. They snap me out of my daze, and I feel angry and confused. I could explode.”
He “(runs) like hell,” and looks into the convertible, where he puts the pieces together. The poster is signed with her autograph: “My Dear Tony, I’ll love you forever. XO, Teri.” He realizes the Tony in question is Tony Danza.
Stamos writes about the other ways his path crossed with Danza, including at a Frank Sinatra concert.
Danza also ends up helping catapult “Full House,” and Stamos, to fame. Danza’s popular sitcom “Who’s the Boss” was the lead-in for “Full House” one summer, making the show a hit.
“If you would have told me the day I walked into that room and caught my true love in bed with another guy that his show, ‘Who’s the Boss?’, would launch ‘Full House’ into a bona fide hit, making me a household name ... Well, what can I say? Thanks, Tony Danza,” Stamos writes.
Stamos also writes about his marriages to Rebecca Romijn and Caitlin McHugh in the book, becoming a father, his sobriety journey and more.
