worthy ♪ ♪ of all the goodness and the love that the world's gonna give to me ♪ ♪ i'ma give it back ten times people are you ready if you think you're alone hold on i'm coming ♪ ♪ don't you know you are never alone ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, john stamos. the beloved star of "full house" -- ♪ whatever happened to

predictability ♪ >> opens up about fame and personal struggles. hitting rock bottom with a dui. >> i could have killed somebody. it was the worst day of my life. >> the dark secret he carried since child hoord. >> i've had ten of my friends text me, "same thing happened, we haven't been able to talk about it." >> now finding joy, becoming a dad at 54. after the blast. abc's bob woodruff returning to iraq 17 years after a bomb blast changed his life forever. >> this ied exploded just to the left. completely shattered this part of my face. >> his long road to recovery. >> he was missing about a third of his skull. it was very concave and pretty scary-looking. >> the emotional journey back. facing his fears and using his voice to shine a light on the wounded heroes of war. >> the only thing good about being blown up like this is that we're able to have the ability to do something for the veterans. and the grammy nominations.

♪ sizza landing nine, including for "kill bill." why this year's biggest night in music promises to be ladies' night. ♪ (vo) purina cares here.

♪ good evening and thank you for joining us.

i'm erielle reshef. john stamos vaulted to fame on "general hospital" and the hit series "full house." but tv's favorite uncle says his life has not always been what it seemed on camera. stamos pulls back the curtain on private and personal struggles and reveals what now brings him joy. here's abc's rhiannon ally. >> i was 14. >> it looks like it was taken yesterday. >> well. >> do you get tired of people talking about how young you look and that you never age? >> i never know what to say. i think i won the genetic lottiry or something, and i drink the blood of rob lowe. >> reporter: john stamos, eternal heartthrob. known for his iconic tv roles like blacky parrish on "general hospital." >> want to have dinner or something? >> yeah. >> reporter: uncle jesse on "full house." >> have mercy.

>> reporter: even at times rocking out with the beach boys, like in this pbs special. has fame been everything you dreamed it would be? >> i love it. you want to take a picture? great. you know. i did want it. and the people that are asking for pictures and stuff, i owe them, i'm grateful to them. >> reporter: but behind the smiling selfies, stamos was fighting an internal battle -- i wasn't going to kill myself, but -- i remember thinking, if i die, it's okay. what a dummy. i've done everything. i've got a sitcom, i played with the beach boys, i could die. >> reporter: for the first time john stamos giving fans unprecedented insight to his life and private struggles. in his newly released memoir, "if you would have told me." >> first of all, i didn't want to write a book, i didn't think i had a story to tell. as i'm writing, my story start tuesday come to fruition. then it became human very fast. i realized without total truth, it's paralysis.

>> reporter: the total truth starting with his infamous drunk driving arrest in 2015. >> i had a horrible dui. i drove drunk. and, you know -- i could have killed somebody. it was the worst day of my life. >> was that rock bottom for you? >> rock bottom. everybody's bottom is different, but that was pretty low. one of my dearest friends, jamie lee curtis, said "print out that picture in handcuffs and put it somewhere to look at every time you want to drink again," or just to realize how far i've come since then. it was hard. >> reporter: stamos opening up about his public divorce from actress and model rebecca in 2005. >> for so many years i blamed her for ruining my life. i realized that i played a big part of our separation, our divorce. it wasn't just her. so to be able to finally let that come out i think makes me

feel, okay. >> another topic that you talk about, really a revelation in the book, is about abuse as a child that you suffered at the hands of a babysitter. >> i warn parents first of all to know it's not some weirdo in a trench coat and glasses driving around the school. it could be an uncle, aunt, a schoolmate, a peer, someone at church, a babysitter. so i thought, oh, i need to talk about this. >> does that feel therapeutic? how does that feel? >> since that came out in the news, i've had ten of my friends, 11 friends exactly, text me, "oh my god, the same thing happened to me, i have vbts been able to talk about it." if one person got something out of it, i'm glad i did it. >> reporter: sharing the weight of the past, something stamos says does not come to him naturally. >> as you maybe saw in the book, i went into being an adult kicking and screaming. i thought being an adult was going to be a drag. i'm here to tell you, it is not.

it's so much more fulfilling. besides, i'm 60, i'm not cute anymore. but it's hard. it's just hard for me. i like to make jokes. but it's also a way of -- >> hiding? >> yeah, a little bit. ♪ what ever happened to predictability ♪ >> turned out the hardest chapters were writing about "full house." >> why? >> i don't -- i've had such a -- an interesting relationship with it over the last 30 years. i couldn't understand why it was still so popular, why people still want to watch it. i've wrestled with that quite a bit. i knew how important it was to people. i knew it was silly at times. i knew it was over the top. but when you look at the show, it's a home-cooked meal of love. it feels safe. it feels warm. it baby everybody's family. >> reporter: one person he says he couldn't hide his true self from, his best friend, actor and comedian bob saget who passed away in january 2022 after

sustaining a head injury. >> i wish bob was around. he never left anything on the table. he always said, "i love you, care about you, proud of you." one of his many services -- if i don't talk about him enough, he'll get mad, you could hear him complaining somewhere. >> reporter: the pair met on the set of abc's "full house." >> you missed breakfast. >> and i'm sorry. >> how long did it take the two of you to form your friendship? >> it took awhile. bob and i just didn't get along. we just didn't -- we had dramatically different styles of working. and then we just started to see our differences as maybe something we could learn from, and i did. i loved him. i studied him. i loved comedy. he was one of the best ever. then we just started going through life together. divorce, death. >> reporter: he still remembers the last night they spent together just weeks before his death. out to dinner with their wives. >> bob was everything i ever wanted him to be.

he listened. he was calm. he was interested. and it was one of those -- you don't think that it's going to be the last time you see your best friend. >> reporter: two of the closest people in stamos' life were his parents, loretta and william. his mother passed in 2014. his father died in 1998. what would your parents think if they saw you today? >> i wish my parents were around to see this. i talk about them a lot. i think they'd be proud. they are. >> reporter: handwritten notes from his beloved mother, heartfelt tributes stamos sprinkled throughout the memoir. does this book in some ways -- is it in honor of her? >> it's in honor of both of my parents. it's a love letter to them. >> reporter: now he's getting a second chance at rewriting the story of his love life, too. stamos is nine years married to actress kaitlin mccue. in 2018 he became a first-time father at age 54. >> you don't look 60. >> reporter: his son billy, now

5, already scene stealing. >> who's calling me? >> reporter: pausing our interview with a face time call to dad. >> what are you watching on tv? "full house"? >> no. >> why not? i love you. >> love you, love you, love you to the moon and back, love you, love you. >> i love you too. >> what's the best part of being a dad? >> there's so much. i didn't think i could love that -- man, the love i have for him -- he's so funny now. that's one of the things. he's got saget's sense of humor. >> what do you hope when people close this book on the final chapter? what do you hope they feel and think about john stamos? >> i made a lot of mistakes. i was lucky that i got a second chance at stuff. so i hope maybe they'll learn from some of my mistakes, try to avoid that. also just -- it was a study in gratitude. i just realized how lucky i've been, how beautiful my hlife is. no matter what ups and downs. and i'm grateful.

>> our thanks to rhiannon. "if you would have told me" is now available. when we come back, the powerful, emotional journey of abc's bob woodruff, returning to iraq to the place where he nearly lost his life 17 years ago. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,

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enroll by december 31 at coveredca.com. ♪ welcome back. in 2006 at the height of the iraq war, bob woodruff was coanchor of abc's "world news tonight." he was on the front lines riding with iraqi forces when a bomb

blast nearly killed him. now, 17 years later, bob completes that assignment, returning to the roadside site that forever changed his life. here's abc's robin roberts. >> reporter: our dear colleague, bob woodruff on a journey to handle what he calls unfinished business. returning to the place where, in a split-second, his life change the forever. >> this is where the tourists would be. >> reporter: 17 years ago in iraq at the height of the war -- you're in the anchor chair, "world news tonight." take us back to why you were there to cover the war. >> the hope was for the u.s. to be able to pull out. that was the story we were going there to tell. there we go, going down the street. and there's eight different tanks, vehicles. we were in the very front in the iraqi one. we stood up, out the top to do a

standup. this ied exploded just to the left. completely shattered this part of my face, my jaw. i fell down into the tank. i was unconscious then for the next 36 days. >> reporter: after bob's long road to recovery from the traumatic brain injury, he's now coming face-to-face with his past for the first time. >> i've been wanting to go back. we were pulled out so quickly. we're out there on a mission to tell the story, what's happening. and suddenly we're removed. >> reporter: bob's beloved wife, lee, knows this trip back is the next step on his path to healing. i'm sure you had to grapple with so many different emotions in saying good-bye to him again to go to iraq? >> for a long time i wished acceptance for you. it was you sitting down and looking through hours of tape, of family footage, to do this documentary. he would say, "i used to have so many words." but i think that process was

part of the acceptance. i think something shifted in you. and i feel a lightness to you. >> reporter: nobody wants to get that call. what was it like when you did? i love to you you described how your four little ones helped you. >> yeah. i could not have the reaction i probably would have had if i weren't with them. >> reporter: two of their daughters too young to remember the full details at the time. >> shin guards? wow, good. >> reporter: seen here helping their dad through his language condition, aphasia. >> i feeled a million times since four days ago. less pain. >> i don't think i left my breath out for a year. even though i knew he was lucky to be alive, there was so much more to a traumatic brain injury. >> in the beginning i could not remember some of the names of family members. even two of my kids, i couldn't remember their names. my dad has aphasia, which is a clear and obvious symptom of

traumatic brain injury. you jumble words, have a hard time recalling words, you mix up the years for things. >> 60 years ago we woke up after 33 years -- >> days. dath ago. you woke up. >> he was missing about a third of his skull. it was very concave. pretty scary-looking. >> mack and katherine, i understand that you're going. i want to tell you, look, it's not horrible, as you probably thought. this is a little bit numb. this has grown back fast. >> his speech was a little different, but you could clearly tell it was my dad. >> i love you so much. i love you more than anybody in the world. >> reporter: bob's son joining on the trip as a cameraman, capturing this powerful moment while heading to the exact spot where the bomb exploded. >> to see you with your son, mack, with magnus, longtime audio person that we all love, going back to the place.

and your emotions. >> it's been my dream do come back and at least finally see the place and just tell those that were there and witnessed it that we're okay. >> you're all right, brother, don't worry. >> mack can tell you i'm a crybaby anyway. we were traveling with members of the iraqi army. two of those men are waiting to meet us near the attack site. i didn't know how i would feel when i finally had the chance to meet them, but i knew one thing.

is that when i saw them, i wanted to give them an embrace. >> thank you so much for this, man. i think a weight has been lifted. in your mind, was it worth it? >> that moment has been playing on an infinite loop in my head. now that loop has sort of ceased. it will never go away, but it's easier now. >> it's easier now. the only good thing about being blown up like this, we're able to have the ability to do something for the veterans. >> reporter: the couple hosting their annual "stand up for heroes" event with hopes of inspiring others through their family's tragedy, which led to triumph. >> there comes a point where you do have to surrender and say, i am different now.

this changed me. yes, this is our family. but this is every family who's been injured. >> it's been 17 years. and now look, now we got ukraine, in the middle of israel and gaza. we've got wars that are not going to end. we know that the veterans, those that are serving in the military, those who have served the country like that, we do not forget them. and that's why we continue to do what we do. >> our thanks to bob and to robin and to all of our soldiers, our veterans and your families on this veterans day. wee are grateful for your service. "after the blast: the will to survive" is streaming on hulu. "kill bill" singer sza leading a female pack of 2024 grammy award nominees. ♪ grammy award nominees. ♪ ♪

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♪

finally tonight, the grammy nominations are out. ♪ it's me hi ♪ >> taylor swift breaking a grammy record with "anti-hero" making it her seventh song of the year nomination and dethroning sir paul mccartney and lionel richie at six each. ♪ sza rules the nominations this year with nine, including for "kill bill." both artists are competing in the trifecta of album, record, and song of the year and their competition is almost entirely female. the grammys will be held in february. good luck to all the nominees. and that is "nightline" for this evening. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here on monday. thanks for staying up late with us, america. good night.