The Ups And Downs Of Lori Loughlin & Mossimo Giannulli's 28-Year Marriage

Fans first fell in love with Lori Loughlin when she starred as Aunt Becky on the hit sitcom "Full House." She joined the show in its second season, quickly becoming a beloved part of the cast thanks to her character's romance with Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), who was quite the heartthrob. Over the years, Loughlin continued to win fans as Abigail Stanton on "When Calls the Heart," the sprawling frontier saga that's lasted more than a decade on The Hallmark Channel. Loughlin's "Full House" fame led to a life in the tabloids, so her personal matters live under the glare of the spotlight that also follows co-stars like Stamos and the Olsen twins. Understandably, Loughlin's home life became her source of refuge. She was married for nearly three decades to Mossimo Giannulli, the fashion designer best known for his collaborations with Target, before the relationship took a turn.

Although fans were fascinated with their marriage, the couple went through some serious ups and downs during their decades together. It all culminated in their participation in the shocking college admissions scandal, where families around the country were charged for a series of scams meant to buy their children's way into university. In 2026, after years of rumors, Giannulli and Loughlin finally announced their divorce. Read on for a closer look at how Loughlin and Giannulli's 28-year marriage came to an end.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli eloped in 1997. The couple had initially planned a larger ceremony, but after being forced to delay their plans for a Hawaiian getaway, they went for something much smaller instead. Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day in Newport Beach, California, Loughlin and Giannulli wed in a dirt lot, wearing their sweatpants. A source told The Los Angeles Times, "It was typical Moss. He always has to be different."

The couple learned much later that they'd been celebrating their anniversary on the wrong day. Loughlin told Entertainment Tonight that she'd been discussing her low-key wedding with Marilu Henner, an iconic '70s sitcom star who is still working today. After Henner asked Loughlin what her anniversary was, Loughlin was surprised by her response. "I said, 'It's Nov. 25, 1997,' and she goes, 'No no, Nov. 25 was a Tuesday ... Nov. 27, 1997 that was Thanksgiving,'" Loughlin recalled. "She was right!"

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's marriage wasn't either of their first marriages, so their family became something of a blended one. Mossimo had a son named Gianni Gene Giannulli from his previous marriage, and then with Loughlin, he shares two daughters. Isabella "Bella" Rose Giannulli was born in 1998, and Olivia Jade Giannulli was born a year after that. As the girls grew up, Loughlin was open about the fact that she was somewhat of a strict mother. "I'd like to think I'm somewhat their friend, but more importantly, I am their mother and a guiding force," she told People in 2015. 

Speaking with YourTeenMag, she elaborated, "I try to parent so that they don't really realize they're being parented and approach them in a way that's not too aggressive or stern. For the most part, I'm there in it, with the everyday ebb and flow of their moods. And yes, it can be challenging." Loughlin also said that she tried to teach her daughters to be courteous. "My girls have rules to follow. My husband and I teach them good manners and gratitude," she said. When the interviewer asked if either daughter plans to join the entertainment industry, Loughlin said something that would soon seem horribly ironic, considering the scandal she'd later be wrapped up in. "I told them to get an education and then explore acting," Loughlin said. "I didn't go to college because I was busy working."

By 2015, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's marriage seemed stronger than ever. Giannulli's fashion line — the one named after himself — had become a major staple at Target stores around the country, and he'd sold it off in 2006 when it was valued at a reported $135 million. "I've told my husband if he ever leaves me, I'm going with him," Loughlin joked in an interview with Wonderwall. She explained, "It's just day by day. Some days are good, some days are not." 

Suggesting there might be tension in the marriage, she added, "You have your good times, your bad times ... you just persevere and you make it work." Thankfully, Loughlin landed the plane, making it seem like she and her fashion-designer husband were as in love as ever. "He's my partner, you know?" Loughlin said. "He's my guy. I always love him. I'm always in love with him."

At the height of her "Full House" fame in the early 1990s, many fans assumed Lori Loughlin's relationship with John Stamos on television would carry over into real life, too. As publicity ramped up for Netflix's "Fuller House" reboot in 2016, Loughlin was asked about that time Stamos confessed that he, too, wished Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky had ended up together in real life. Calling the remarks flattering, Loughlin was quick to insist that her husband wasn't threatened by her former co-star. "On my Instagram when people comment you know, 'You should marry John Stamos' and 'You should be with John,' he always comments, 'I agree. She should have married John Stamos,'" Loughlin joked to Fox News. "He has a very good sense of humor about it and they're very good friends."

Stamos later elaborated on his crush on his "Full House" co-star, detailing the moment in 1994 when he could tell he had a choice to make. In his memoir, "If You Would Have Told Me," Stamos said he was at a fashion show with Loughlin when he met Rebecca Romijn, who would later become his wife. Realizing he needed to decide which path he wanted his life to take, he recalled (via Page Six), "In my mind it was like ... the two Sandys in 'Grease!'"

Back in 2019, Lori Loughlin was at the center of one of the biggest news stories in the country, Although Loughlin has since managed to salvage her soured reputation, many will remember how she and her husband were caught up in the so-called college admissions scandal, the wide-ranging "Operation Varsity Blues" law enforcement crackdown on the ultra-wealthy tradition of bribing your kids' way into college. Alongside "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman, Loughlin and Giannulli were made the faces of the scandal, even though they were just three out of dozens of people arrested.

Through a ring of fake test-takers and resume-fakers, rich people paid hefty sums to make sure their children were accepted to top schools. On an episode of "Red Table Talk," Olivia Jade Giannulli explained the family's attitude toward having paid a whopping $500,000 to secure her admission to college. "When all this first happened and it became public I remember thinking, how are people mad about this?" she said (via the BBC). "It sounds so silly, but in the bubble that I grew up in, a lot of kids' parents were donating to schools." Olivia Jade added that she'd been working with schoolchildren ever since the controversy broke wide. "I understand that I, just based off my skin color, I already had my foot in the door and I was already ahead of everybody else," she added.

After they were ultimately convicted for their roles in the college admissions scandal, both Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli served time in prison. Loughlin was sentenced to two months behind bars, while Giannulli had to serve five; reportedly, he was the one who got the family into the whole mess to begin with. Loughlin didn't speak about the ordeal for years, but in 2024, she made reference to her trials and tribulations in an interview with First For Women. The original "When Calls the Heart" cast member quoted Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping," telling the magazine (via Entertainment Tonight), "Every day, we're met with different obstacles. But, for me, it's like that song says: 'I get knocked down, but I get up again.'" She didn't address her time in the clink directly, but she added, "Nobody said life was going to be a breeze. There's beauty in life, but there's also hardship in life."

Giannulli, on the other hand, seems to have had a tough time while in lockup. He was in prison at the end of 2020 and in early 2021, which meant he faced long periods of solitary confinement to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. "After each negative test, without further explanation, Mr. Giannulli was returned to his cell, purportedly for another two-week period of solitary quarantine," his lawyers wrote in a motion to have his sentence completed on home arrest (via Vanity Fair). His bid was ultimately denied.

As the COVID-19 pandemic waned and national attention moved on from the college admissions scandal, Mossimo Giannulli and Lori Loughlin's life returned to relative normalcy. Unfortunately, it seems as though their marriage couldn't get back to what it was before they each had to serve prison sentences. Affair rumors plagued Loughlin and Giannulli's marriage, giving fans an early sign that the couple was likely headed for Splitsville. Sure enough, they went their separate ways in 2025, and tabloids soon spotted Giannulli spending time with stylist Hannah Harrison. 

What's more, Loughlin allegedly found digital evidence of cheating. "The tipping point came when Lori found a bunch of text messages," a source told Page Six. Another source told People, "Things have never been the same after weathering the college admission fallout and the prison sentences together. Lori feels betrayed. They're in very different places right now." Giannulli, on the other hand, reportedly hoped they could just let the whole thing slide. An insider told the outlet, "He thinks she's a lovely person and an incredible mom. He wants everything resolved quietly." This is, unfortunately, Hollywood, so the chances of a quiet resolution to the decades-long marriage of a scandal-plagued star of a beloved 1980s sitcom was naturally going to attract some attention.

In October 2025, as the world learned that Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli likely weren't going to find their way back to one another, Loughlin's old "Full House" co-star popped up to give his opinion on his friend's husband. Although Loughlin had once described the two as great friends, John Stamos seemed like he had been holding on to a lot when he let loose on the "Good Guys" podcast. Stamos spoke with "Drake & Josh" star Josh Peck about his former co-star's legal ordeal, explaining that he'd spoken with Loughlin on the morning the story broke. 

According to Stamos, Loughlin was afraid that her phone had been bugged, and she also said Giannulli had handled all of their daughters' college acceptance. Stamos said it took a while before he could speak with his friend again, and that she'd handled her prison sentence well. "In typical Lori fashion," he said, "I said, 'How was it?' She goes, you know, 'I met a lot of nice ladies in there. We have a book club.'" Like Loughlin, Stamos seemed to blame Giannulli for what happened. "She put up with a lot over the years for this guy," Stamos said, declining to give specifics. Instead, he insisted, "I will never talk to him again. He's a terrible narcissist, and I don't think you ever get out of that."

Although news of their split broke in October 2025, it wasn't until September 2026 that Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli officially filed for divorce. NBC News noted that paperwork had officially been filed early that month, citing court documents that pointed toward "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split. While they'd gotten together during the 1990s — a decade that Loughlin ruled on "Full House" – and their relationship weathered several decades that followed, Loughlin and Giannulli simply couldn't make it work. After all, after your spouse has evidently paid someone a whole lot of money to fake evidence that your daughters had joined a rowing team they were never part of, how can you learn to trust them again?

Loughlin at least had the support of her friends to lean on as she navigated the divorce. "She has a good group of friends. A lot of her friends are also divorced and have gone through the same thing she currently is," a source told People. As for Giannulli, the source added, "They do not like him. They are very angry with him."