Candace Cameron Bure: Quarantine ‘Tested’ My Marriage in the ‘Best of Ways’

Still growing! Candace Cameron Bure opened up about how her relationship with husband Valeri Bure evolved during the quarantine caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It totally tested us but in the best of ways,” the actress, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, November 4, while discussing her partnership with The Salvation Army. “I’ll be honest because we try. We both travel so much. So we were like, ‘This might be the most amount of time we’ve actually spent together in years. This is either going to make us or break us.’ And you know what? It’s made us.”

Candace noted how thankful she was for the extra time with Valeri, 46. “So many things are put in perspective just being at home, and then you talk through a lot of things and you realize, ‘What are the things we have to work on? What are the things that are working well?’” she explained. “I’m really grateful that it’s the one thing that I can look at 2020 — as crazy as this year has been and difficult — and I’m so grateful for my family time because I’ve reevaluated my work schedule, the time that I’m away from my family, and realized that that was not a good balance for me. So I’m thankful that it happened in that way because it’s made our relationship stronger.”

The couple tied the knot in June 1996 and are parents of daughter Natasha, 22, and sons Lev, 20, and Maksim, 18.

The Let It Snow actress got real earlier this year about how her family dynamic shifted during the quarantine. “I started 2019 off as an empty nester and now I’ve got a full house again,” she told Us in April. “I am very happy that I have my kids home and spending time with my husband too. Because a lot of times we’re like two ships passing in the night with our work schedule. So that part has been the biggest blessing for me.”

The Fuller House alum emphasized that she had “incredible” conservations with her brood while detailing other activities they did to pass the time at home. “We’ve been taking lots of walks and playing lots of board games and we’re in sunny California. We have a pool and we’ve been enjoying that too because the weather’s been nice,” she said. “It’s just been concentrated family time [with] lots of cooking and eating.”

Now, Candace has partnered up with The Salvation Army for the third consecutive year to help millions in need during the holiday season.

“They do so much good work throughout the year, and this year, because of the pandemic and COVID, things are different,” she told Us on Wednesday. “You always see around the holidays the red kettles and the Red Kettle Campaign supports so much of Salvation Army’s work that they do through the year — helping families in need through shelter and food and job training and daycare. And this year, because we’re not out as much, we’re not out and about, those kettles are gonna suffer. So we’re asking everyone to go to rescuechristmas.org and donate there or drop a few dollars in when you do see the red kettle or set up a monthly donation. They’re expecting 155 percent more families will be in need this holiday season.”

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi

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