Dave Coulier Explains the Origin of the ‘Uncle Joey’ Confusion on ‘Full House’

The man behind Full House favorite Joey Gladstone, Dave Coulier, has weighed in on the debate over whether his character was referred to as "Uncle Joey."

Some Full House fans have a memory of other characters calling Joey "Uncle Joey," but it didn't really happen that way, which Coulier confirmed on a new podcast.

"It’s just Joey," Coulier told his Full House co-stars Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber during a guest appearance on Thursday’s episode of the How Rude, Tanneritos podcast, which Sweetin and Barber co-host. The comedian went on to explain that he understands how and why audiences erroneously added the "Uncle" prefix. 

"In one of the early shows, one of your characters said 'Uncle Jesse and Joey are coming,' and it just stuck where we were kind of the uncles and we just got bonded," Coulier recalled. 

Barber then chimed in and added that in one of the episodes, Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) referred to Coulier's character as "Uncle Joey." Coulier and Sweetin agreed that Stamos must have ad-libbed the nickname as it would not have appeared that way in the script. 

Sweetin has made this argument for quite some time, mentioning on an earlier episode of the same podcast that the Tanner girls had never called Joey their uncle. 

"I have been vindicated," she said when Coulier concurred. 

Joey Gladstone and Stamos’ Jesse Katsopolis both moved into the Tanner family household and helped Bob Saget’s Danny raise his three girls after their mother Pam died. However, Jesse was the only one who was technically the uncle of DJ, Stephanie and Michelle, as he was Pam’s brother. Joey was Danny's best friend.

"Everybody introduces me as Uncle Joey, and it’s OK. Being America’s uncle, it’s nice, you know," Coulier said, adding: "I’ve just accepted it. I don’t fight it anymore, I don’t correct people."