Bob Saget is publicly defending his Full House co-star Lori Loughlin, amid claims the the actress is ‘about to break’ after being slapped with an additional charge of bribery in the college admissions scandal.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, 63-year-old Saget – who first began working with Loughlin on the hit sitcom back in 1988 – stated: ‘For a while, I was saying, “No comment” and now there’s just no point… I love the people I love, and I have empathy for people that are in my life for 35 years. I don’t cut people out.’
He added: ‘I never had any friends growing up, so I’m lucky to have any [now]’.
The actor spent seven working with Loughlin, 55, on Full House, before the show wrapped in 1995.
The pair came together again in 2015, with Netflix rebooting the hit sitcom under the new title, Fuller House.
The fifth and final season of that show is about to commence production, but it’s believed that Loughlin will not return. The actress was fired from her other TV series, Hallmark’s When Calls The Heart, after she was first charged in the college admissions scandal back in March.
‘I love the people I love, and I have empathy for people that are in my life for 35 years. I don’t cut people out’: Bob Saget expressed support for Full House co-star Lori Loughlin in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday. The pair are pictured at right in 2007, and left on the set of the show back in 1990
Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannilli are pictured in court in April. The pair are each facing three charges in the college admissions scandal
Prosecutors claim Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, 56, paid a $500,000 bribe for their daughters, Olivia Jade, 20, and Isabella Giannulli, 21, to be accepted into the University of South California.
It’s alleged they even got their daughters to pose for pictures on rowing machines, which they then sent to the university along with fake athletic profiles.
Back in March, the couple were slapped with two charges: money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as honest services mail and wire fraud.
On October 22, federal prosecutors announced an additional charge of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.
The pair have pleaded not guilty and face up to 40 years behind bars if found guilty. Loughlin is next due to appear in court on January 17.
Loughlin is pictured with her two daughters, Olivia Jade (left) and Isabella (right). She is alleged to have paid a bribe of $500,000 so that they could be admitted to USC
Meanwhile, People magazine reported Wednesday that the actress is ‘about to break’ in light of the additional charge.
A source close to Loughlin told the publication that ‘the entire family is in chaos right now.’
‘They knew this [the additional charge] was a possibility, but they thought perhaps it was just a bargaining tool from the prosecution,’ the source stated.
‘Now that the charges are official, they are realizing that there is no way to avoid a moderately long prison sentence, unless they are found not guilty in a trial.
‘They feel like this is David versus Goliath. How do you go up against the federal government, when the government has decided to make an example out of you? How can you possibly move forward from this?’ This stress is about to break them.’
Loughlin has the support of her co-stars Saget (left), John Stamos (center left) and Candace Cameron Bure (left). The group are pictured together in 2009
Meanwhile, Saget isn’t the only Full House star to defend Loughlin in light of the scandal.
Back in August, John Stamos – who played Loughlin’s love interest on the sitcom – spoke up in support of the actress.
”Whatever happened, I’m pretty sure that the punishment is not equal to the crime, if there was a crime,’ Stamos told GQ.
Meanwhile, co-star Candace Cameron Bure told reporters back in March: ‘Where there’s a lot of heart, there’s a lot of love.
‘A loving family sticks together no matter what. They stick together through the hard times, they support each other, they encourage one another, they pray for each other, and they stand by their side, no matter how tough it gets’.
Saget and Loughlin pictured on the set of Full House back in 1990
Loughlin (second from right) is pictured with her Fuller House co-stars in 2017
15 parents were initially charged in the college admissions scandal back in March, including Desperate Housewives star, Felicity Huffman.
Unlike Loughlin, Huffman plead guilty in the scandal, and accepted a plea dea.
She served 11 days in prison after being found guilty of paying admissions consultant Rick Singer $15,000 to fake the answers for her now 19-year-old daughter, Sophia.
She now has to complete 250 hours of community service.