The actress served two months in federal prison after she pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud in the 2019 college admissions scandal
Credit: Lori Loughlin/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Lori Loughlin returned to Instagram on Monday, Aug. 31, seven years after deleting her account
- “Wake up, San Francisco! I’m back on IG,” she captioned her post
- Her new account follows the college admissions scandal that led to prison sentences for her and her estranged husband, Mossimo Giannulli
Lori Loughlin has returned to Instagram seven years after deleting her account.
Loughlin, 62, announced her return on Monday, Aug. 31, with help from her Full House costars, John Stamos, Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure, Scott Weinger and Andrea Barber, telling viewers, “Wake up San Francisco,” channeling her character Becky Donaldson, the Wake Up, San Francisco’s co-anchor.
After the cast makes their intros, Loughlin recreates her return to Wake Up, San Francisco, in which she cheekily welcomes herself back to set after maternity leave. Loughlin lip-syncs to the audio, “Hi, I’m Rebecca Donaldson, and I’m welcoming myself back to the show. Welcome back, Becky. Why, thank you, Becky. Welcome back.”
The announcement concluded with a clip of the late Bob Saget making his Wake Up, San Francisco introduction, then jumping back to Loughlin, who completes the introduction, saying, “And I’m Rebecca Donaldson.”
“Wake up, San Francisco! I’m back on IG 💕,” she captioned her post.
Credit: Lori Loughlin/Instagram
Loughlin’s return to the platform comes seven years after she and her estranged husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were embroiled in a high-profile college admissions scandal in March 2019 involving their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli. Loughlin deleted her Instagram account on March 12, 2019, the day the news broke.
In May 2020, Loughlin and Mossimo pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud after they were accused of paying $500,000 for their daughters’ admission into the University of Southern California. The two girls were falsely listed as recruits for the university’s crew team, even though neither ever participated in the sport.
Loughlin was sentenced to two months in federal prison and almost completed her sentence before she was released in December 2020. Mossimo, now 63, received a five-month sentence in August of the same year.
In October 2025, PEOPLE confirmed the couple was separating after nearly 28 years of marriage. Soon after the announcement, a source told PEOPLE their marriage never fully recovered from the strain of the college admissions scandal.
Credit: Lori Loughlin/Instagram
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In the years since the scandal, Loughlin slowly made her return to television, even playing a heightened version of herself as she poked fun at her involvement in the college admissions scheme in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
She also had roles on Blue Bloods, On Call, the When Calls the Heart spinoff When Hope Calls and When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas.
She has also publicly reunited with her Full House costars on multiple occasions, more recently at The Nostalgia Con in Orlando, Fla., in early August.
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