Lori Loughlin ends seven-year silence after guilty plea over college admissions scandal

Lori Loughlin has made a grand return to Instagram after a seven-year silence on social media.

Loughlin, 62, announced her comeback with a little help from her Full House co-stars including close pal John Stamos. Her return comes seven years after she and her estranged husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were embroiled in the high-profile college admissions scandal in March 2019.

Loughlin deleted her Instagram account on March 12, 2019, the day the news of the scandal broke.

Seven years on, the actress uploaded her first video in a collaborative post with Full House co-stars Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure, Scott Weinger, Andrea Barber and John Stamos.

She channelled her character Becky Donaldson’s Wake Up San Francisco talk show host persona as she called on the audience to “Wake up San Francisco”.

After all the Full House cast made the same introduction, Loughlin recreated the iconic Full House scene where Becky Donaldson returns to the Wake Up San Francisco show from maternity leave.

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“Hi, I’m Rebecca Donaldson, and I’m welcoming myself back to the show. Welcome back, Becky. Why, thank you, Becky. Welcome back,” Loughlin lip-synced to audio from the 1991 episode.

The video finished with a clip of the late Bob Saget making his Wake Up, San Francisco introduction, before returning to Loughlin, who concluded, “And I’m Rebecca Donaldson.”

“Wake up, San Francisco! I’m back on IG 💕,” Loughlin captioned her post.

Loughlin was last active on Instagram the day before news broke of her and ex-husband Giannulli’s implication in the infamous college admissions scandal. It involved her then college-aged daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannuli.

In May 2020, Loughlin and Giannulli pled guilty to wire and mail fraud after they were accused of paying US$500,000 for their daughters’ admission to the University of Southern California.

To secure their entry, both daughters were fraudulently presented as crew team recruits, despite neither having any experience in the sport.

Loughlin was sentenced to two months in federal prison and almost completed her sentence before being released in December 2020.

Ex-husband Giannulli served his five-month prison sentence from November 2020 to April 2021, finishing the final weeks of his term under home confinement.

In October 2025, it was confirmed the couple separated after nearly 28 years of marriage. Sources claimed their relationship never fully recovered from the weight of the college admissions scandal.

In the immediate years after the scandal, Loughlin lost prominent acting jobs and withdrew from public life.

In recent years, she has continued rebuilding her career with television projects, including roles in When Hope Calls and even a cameo on Curb Your Enthusiasm where she poked fun at the scandal.

Loughlin’s return to social media was met with open arms from fans.

“Welcome Aunt Becky we missed you!” one wrote.

While another said: “You WIN on breaking the internet today!”