‘Dancing With The Stars’: Jodie Sweetin Gets Real About Her Past

The theme of last night’s Dancing With the Stars broadcast was “Most Memorable Year,” and most viewers agree that Jodie Sweetin’s story of her most memorable year was one of the most touching of the night. Jodie chose 2015 as her most memorable year because it was the year that Fuller House happened, a significant and symbolic event for her.

In her pre-dance video, Sweetin told the story of her descent into addiction. It began when Full House ended. Jodie was 13 years old at the time and suddenly the people she had come to love like a family and the life she had known for eight years came to an end. A significant loss, it was something Jodie should have grieved, but she didn’t know how. Alcohol and drugs numbed the pain. Sweetin described her lowest points in those years.

“The darkest moments for me weren’t necessarily like winding up in the hospital or anything like that. It was those quiet moments alone when I just hated the person that I’d become.”

Co-star Bob Saget described how Jodie’s experience makes her a better mother.

“She’s a great mom because she’s been through so much. With that comes honesty, and the more honest you are with your kids, the more you can be real with them. And I think that’s her biggest accomplishment, that she is just incredibly real. And that’s one of the things I love the most about her.”

Sweetin described how she felt when she got the call about Fuller House and the gift it was to be able to do what she loved once again. It was like coming full circle, back to the people and the work whose loss broke her and now being able to revisit them after she has healed. Jodie summed up her journey into darkness and back out of the darkness.

“I remember my mom saying that when I was little, I had this light that shined really big and that she watched my light become very dark. And I just remember my mom saying to me like, ‘Your light shines again.’ And so like doing this dance, I get to shine again. You know, I dimmed my light for a long time, and I don’t feel like I have to do that anymore.”

Jodie Sweetin recently celebrated five years of sobriety.

Following her touching video intro, Jodie danced a Foxtrot with her Dancing With the Stars dancing pro, Keo Motsepe, while Andra Day sang “Rise Up.” There were not many dry eyes in either the live audience or the home audience. The judges awarded Sweetin and Motsepe 23 out of 30 points and the pair will dance again next week.

Jodie Sweetin is 34 years old. She is engaged to Justin Hodak who is also a recovering addict. The couple has not yet set a date for their wedding. Jodie has two children: Zoie Laurelmae Herpin who will turn 8 this month and Beatrix Carlin Sweetin-Coyle who will turn 6 in August. Each of Jodie’s daughters are from previous marriages. In 2009 she wrote a memoir titled unSweetined which details Jodie’s fall into addiction and her rise out of it.

Competing with Jodie Sweetin in this 22nd season of Dancing With the Stars are NFL players Antonio Brown and Von Miller, Good Morning America meteorologist Ginger Zee, former NFL player Doug Flutie, America’s Next Top Model Season 22 winner Nyle DiMarco, actress Kim Fields, actress and ex-wife of Donald Trump Marla Maples, UFC fighter Paige VanZant, and Wanya Morris from the R&B group Boyz II Men.

Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC every Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown]