'Full House' Star Jodie Sweetin Reflects on Her Relationship With the Olsen Twins and Their Private Lives
It's been more than 30 years since the end ofFull House, and Jodie Sweetin looks back at the relationship she had with Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen as children and where they are now as adults.
Sweetin played the older sister to the Olsen twins on Full House when they were only six and three years old. The actor reveals on a recent appearance on The McBride Rewind podcast that growing up beyond the young characters they once were changed their dynamic as friends.
As kids on the show, Sweetin revealed that the Olsen twins would often spend the night at her house and even join her and her parents on a weekend trip to their cabin. They would do everything from horseback riding to Disneyland, and even play dress-up. Sweetin admits that over the years, the reality of fame at a young age drifted them apart.
"I think after Full House and growing up and everything, they've had an extremely different trajectory than any of the rest of us. They were 8 years old when the show finished. If you knew somebody the first eight years of your life, and then you sort of drifted away, like, how many people do you still talk to from that? It's not like it's a bad thing," explained Sweetin.
She added that the Olsen twins also likely had less recollection of their time on Full House compared to everyone else. Due to having starred on the show since being infants, Sweetin believes they only had a few years of really remembering "and then moved on and did a whole host of other things in their life."
In the years following the end of the series, the Olsen twins became known for preferring life away from the spotlight as they grew older after being known as teen icons. For Sweetin, she believes it was their decision due to having worked their entire childhood and not having moments to be normal.
"Those girls worked their entire childhood. They did not have as many advocates making sure that they had a balanced childhood," she explained. "So I can only imagine that their experience was very different than mine or Candace's. We would take a hiatus, and I'd get a few months off. I'd go be a kid, we'd go on vacation, we'd do these things. And they would be doing movies, and the mystery series, and product launches, and all of this stuff. And it was a lot. It was a lot for them."
Sweetin adds that they likely came to a point of realization that they didn't want to be doing this forever and wanted a way out. For Sweetin, the Olsen twins are "very private people because they lost that. And so I think they fiercely protect that privacy."
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This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 9:38 AM.