Lori Loughlin reflects on being ‘down and broken’ on star-studded TV show

Perhaps signaling Lori Loughlin’s acceptance back into the Hollywood fold, the disgraced “Full House” star joined Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone and Whoopi Goldberg and other celebrities on a Los Angeles-based telethon Saturday, talking about her weekly commitment to delivering food to people in need since leaving federal prison.

Loughlin, 57, was a featured guest on KTLA’s “Lead with Love 3 telethon” to promote the Project Angel Food nonprofit in Los Angeles. Once known for her wholesome Aunt Becky image, Loughlin became tearful on the telethon as she talked about “people who have hit a low in their life.” It is the first on-air statement she’s made since serving two months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin in late 2020 for her role in the college admissions scandal.

“It is a community, it is a family, and all the people that work here are just so wonderful. They have welcomed me with such open arms at a time when I was feeling particularly down and broken,” said Loughlin, wearing the bright blue T-shirt with the Project Angel Food logo.

“That’s how I found a home here, and that’s what I feel like they did for me,” Loughlin continued. “And that’s why I’m so proud to be here and working with this organization. Because they really do care. It’s really a community.”

Project Angel Food delivers food to people with serious illness. Loughlin appeared in a segment that followed a “day in the life of a Project Angel Food volunteer.” She talked about packing up cereal and fruit into bags for delivery, then is seen driving to people’s homes, greeting them and handing them their bags or leaving them on the front porch. She also greeted one Project Angel Food client with a hug.

“It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Loughlin said. “I have the same delivery route every week. I see the same people. They are often unable to leave their homes. They are somewhat isolated. There’s just that human connection and spending time with them, asking ‘How are you doing? How are you feeling?’”

Loughlin’s appearance on the telethon — along with Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Winkler, Richard Gere and Charlie’s Angels stars Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith– will likely boost her effort to restore her reputation and get back into the public’s good graces.

Loughlin’s reputation as the beloved the star of “Full House” and the Hallmark Channel was pretty much destroyed when she and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were arrested in the college admissions scandal in March 2019.

The Hollywood power couple were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters, Isabella and Olivia Jade, fraudulently admitted to the University of Southern California on the pretense of being talented crew athletes. The couple spent more than a year fighting the charges and proclaiming their innocence, until they finally relented to pressure from federal prosecutors and took a plea deal.

Loughlin’s surprise TV appearance Saturday comes the same weekend that the Bay Area News Group reported that college admissions bribery scheme mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, is living in a mobile home park in Florida. Singer lured Loughlin, Giannulli and dozens of other wealthy parents into his scheme to get their children fraudulently admitted to elite colleges.

Singer turned informant and helped federal prosecutors secure convictions against Loughlin, Giannulli and other parents implicated in the scandal. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to four felonies, including racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the federal government, but is free on $500,000 bail and will be sentenced in mid-September.

Following Loughlin’s release from prison, she had to complete 100 hours of community service, which she did through Project Angel Food. After fulfilling that obligation, she continued to work with the nonprofit, a source told Page Six.

“She continued to volunteer on a weekly basis, every week, making deliveries. She doesn’t do this for show,” the source said. “She’s very quiet about it, but she shows up every single week. It’s become a weekly thing for her. It’s a part of who she is. She really loves this work.”