“Full House” alum Candace Cameron Bure is keeping the faith in her beloved co-star, Dave Coulier, after it was recently announced that the 65-year-old actor was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“A cancer diagnosis is so difficult. And it felt very devastating when Dave and Melissa [Coulier] called and let us all know personally before it went out to press,” Cameron Bure said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “But we know that the cancer that he has is very treatable. And many people have gone into remission for many, many years from that. So, you know, it was like the best diagnosis you can get from devastating news, in that sense. It feels very hopeful.”
The actress, who played DJ Tanner for 13 cumulative seasons on both “Full House” and its spin-off, “Fuller House,” had an emotional response to the news on Thursday.
“It didn’t hit me for a few weeks because when you hear that someone has cancer, at least for me, I just didn’t want to accept it,” she said through tears. “You don’t want to think about it. It’s like, ‘okay, let’s go. What do we do? Like, let’s get past this.’ And then when you see him start losing his hair, that’s when it kind of hit me.”
‘FULL HOUSE’ STAR DAVE COULIER DIAGNOSED WITH ‘VERY AGGRESSIVE’ CANCER
Cameron Bure said Coulier, who’s best known for playing the lovable “Uncle Joey” in the ABC hit sitcom, has an “incredible” outlook and is “very positive” despite the news.
Coulier’s other co-stars from the hit show have publicly expressed their support for the actor’s choice to undergo chemotherapy to combat the aggressive cancer — including fellow actor, John Stamos, who posted a photo on social media wearing a bald cap alongside a bald Coulier, who preemptively shaved his head before his treatment started.
The actress told Fox News Digital her show of support lies in her constant prayer.
“I was like, Dave, I’ve been praying every day…we can laugh, and we can make as many jokes – Dave loves to handle things through humor, which was why we loved that John [Stamos] put the bald cap on — it was great and Dave thought it was hilarious. [But] I told Dave and Mel, the best way I can support you is pray for you every day, because you know that my faith is strong. And I feel like that’s where my strength lies, in prayer. So I’ll be praying every single day.”
Cameron Bure went on to discuss her experience being a woman of faith in Hollywood, telling Fox News Digital that while it can be “difficult,” she feels God has opened many doors for her within the entertainment industry.
“I carry [my faith] with me wherever I go. I don’t lead with faith for my career or to get a job. My faith is who I am. It’s the foundation of everything. I don’t leave my faith at the doorstep of my home when I walk into work. And in the same way, I don’t use my faith to get me forward. I just need a connection with God every day in every aspect of my life, whether that’s my home life, my work life, and I’m unashamed of it.”
But Cameron Bure wasn’t always faithful. It was during her stint on “Full House” that she was introduced to Christianity.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that while my mom was a Christian, my dad wasn’t. So we didn’t grow up in a home that, when I was very young, we were going to church or reading the Bible. I wouldn’t have called our home a Christian home. But it was a very moral household.”
“But it was when I was 12, that’s when my parents started going to church,” she added. “They were having some trouble with their marriage. They were thinking of getting divorced, so a friend had invited them to go to church, seek some counseling through the ministry. And so my parents did, and that was [when I was] 12… My young faith was a very childlike faith, [but], you know, God loves those children. So that’s what he wants us to all have, is a childlike faith.”
That very childlike faith is becoming more pervasive in Hollywood, with several studios, networks, and streaming services prioritizing faith-based content. Cameron Bure told Fox News Digital she believes the content shift is a reflection of a cultural one.
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“Faith-based content has been around for quite a long time. But it’s always been lacking. It’s wonderful that they put content out, but we’re at the point where, like, it just needs to be elevated and be the same quality that we’re looking at other programming,” she said. “And that’s what people like Kingdom Story and Angel Studios, Dallas Jenkins, and I’ll throw in my company, Candy Rock, with our feature film “Unsung Hero” that came out earlier this year… everyone’s elevated the game in that way, and it’s wonderful audiences are showing up, because they want the content.”
While Cameron Bure is no stranger to vocalizing her strong faith, she’s also no stranger to openly discussing her mental health struggles — having recently revealed on her podcast her longstanding struggle with depression.
Acknowledging the stigma surrounding mental health among the faithful community — and, in light of Coulier’s diagnosis — she offered her advice to anyone who might be battling health issues of any kind:
“If I was diagnosed with cancer, I would still go see a doctor,” she said, encouraging people to seek help when needed. “God’s still going to do what God’s going to do. God can perform a miracle on my body, [but] I’m still going to go see a doctor while I’m praying and interacting with God.”
“I feel like that’s the stigma with a lot of Christians… when it comes to the mental health space, is that they they will often feel ashamed, like they’re not trusting God enough. And yet that’s why I’m an advocate to go talk to someone, go to therapy and talk it out. If you were sick in another way, you would go see a doctor. So it’s okay if you’re depressed, if you have anxiety — whatever those things are, it’s okay to go talk to someone.”
Fox News’ Stephanie Giang contributed to this report.
