Fans stunned as Full House star reveals original actor cast as Danny Tanner… before Bob Saget replaced him

Full House fans were left stunned this week as an iconic show star revealed did not originally play 'America's Dad' Danny Tanner.

Saget, who died in 2022 aged 65, played widowed dad-of-three Tanner on the iconic sitcom from 1987-1995, reprising the role for reboot Fuller House from 2016-2020.

Jodie Sweetin, 44, who played Tanner's daughter Stephanie, revealed Teen Wolf star John Posey played the dad in the original unaired pilot of Full House - although Saget was always the 'first choice.'

She told the Taboo’s Comics & Kicks podcast, 'We shot an entire pilot, actually, with a different dad, with John Posey, who was a lovely human being and very sweet and wonderful.'

At the time Saget was hosting CBS' The Morning Program - with show creator Jeff Franklin having to 'fight so hard' to reshoot the pilot with Saget in the lead role.

'So when he [Saget] was no longer doing the show that was conflicting with Full House,’ we reshot the entire pilot', Sweetin said.

'He [Franklin] was like, "I just know it. I just know this is who we need as the dad”. 

'And he was right.'

The original series was based around a widowed news reporter Danny Tanner who enlisted the help of his best friends to raise his three daughters after his wife was killed in a car crash. 

A reboot entitled Fuller House revolved around the eldest daughter of the Tanner clan, D.J., played by original cast member Candace Cameron-Bure, as she attempted to grapple with widowhood with the help of her friends. 

Speaking to Yahoo in 2014, Posey revealed he was part of a successful comedy group when he was approached to star in Full House, saying, 

'And from what I was told, they were looking all over the country for people and couldn't find a guy, although I later found out that Bob Saget and Paul Reiser were the two guys they were after first, and they were both unavailable. They were obligated to other shows. How you go from those guys to me is kind of a mystery, because we couldn't be more different.

'In all honesty, if somebody were to ask me now, I have no idea whether I was good in that pilot or not. It was all very new to me.

'So I can't say that I was the most experienced guy on the set, plus you're holding a baby in your arms the whole time, so I was learning about this, going along but I, overall I thought everything was pretty decent. 

'And the show went. [ABC] picked it up with me, and everything was fine, until about a month or so later when I heard otherwise.'

'I was in Mississippi. My pager went off. I've got a trailer full of stuff. I'm driving back thinking, 'We're going to get to work soon on this new show.' And I get a phone call, go to the phone booth, as we used to do in those days, returned the call, and it was my agent saying, 'I don't know what's going on, but for some reason they're testing Bob Saget.'

'And I said, 'What are you talking about? Why would they do that?' I didn't know at the time that he was the guy that they originally wanted, that he was just unavailable," Posey said. "I guess something opened up for him. 

'Maybe he was fired from something, I think, and suddenly he was available. And I guess the executive producer talked ABC into allowing him to re-shoot. So that was the end of that.  

Saget was also known for hosting America's Funniest Home Videos from 1989 to 1997.

The beloved actor passed away on January 9, 2022. 

The comedian and actor was found dead in his room at the Ritz-Carlton in Williamsburg near Orange County, Florida around 4 p.m. ET.

He had just performed his stand-up show in Ponte Vedra Beach the previous evening and seemingly had not left his room since going to sleep for the night.

An autopsy report released a month after his passing found that Saget had suffered blunt head trauma to the back of his head most likely from an unwitnessed fall that set off a subdural hematoma in his sleep.

In his last-ever post on his Instagram page on January 9, 2022, the day of his death, Saget shared some thoughts about his performance in Florida the night before.   

'Okay, I loved tonight's show @pontevedra_concerthall in Jacksonville. Really nice audience. Lots of positivity. Happened last night in Orlando at the Hard Rock Live too. Very appreciative and fun audiences. Thanks again to @comediantimwilkins for opening. I had no idea I did a two hour set tonight,' he wrote, before dishing about his love of his comedy craft.  

'I'm back in comedy like I was when I was 26. I guess I'm finding my new voice and loving every moment of it. A’ight, see you in two weeks Jan. 28 & 29 @pbimprov with my brother @therealmikeyoung- And check BobSaget.com for my dates in 2022 – – Goin’ everywhere until I get the special shot. And then probably keep going cause I’m addicted to this s**t. Peace out.'

 Saget, who was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, with ties to Norfolk, Virginia and Encino, California, left behind his wife Kelly Rizzo and his three daughters.