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The tormented childhood behind this star’s glittering career
Yet through it all, she’s shown incredible resilience, overcoming personal struggles to emerge as the talented and inspiring star she is today.
Julianne Hough’s romance with Ryan Seacrest was a headline-grabbing one. The two dated from 2010 to 2013, and she didn’t hide her feelings during their time together. “He is such an influential guy … and what if it didn’t work out? Our first date, I was so nervous that I just sat there and interviewed him with questions like, ‘Are you loyal?’ and ‘Are you close to your family?’” she told InStyle )n 2012.
“I’m very in love, and it feels great. I feel like I’m more comfortable in my own skin. You see me instead of all the makeup and hair.”
The split, however, was a tough moment for her.
“It was 2013, and I had just got out of a relationship that was very high profile,” she said on Instagram Live (via ET). “I was on private planes and yachts and living in a very, very well-off house. My life was pretty different from where I grew up.”
Reconnecting with her parents
After her split from Seacrest, Hough began dating NHL player Brooks Laich. The couple got engaged in 2015 and tied the knot two years later. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last long, reportedly because Hough wanted too much freedom to fully commit. Yet the breakup brought a silver lining: it allowed Hough to reconnect with her parents.
“They showed up for me as my parents and I needed that,” she reflected on that chapter of her life. “I reclaimed my parental relationship with them and I got to be the kid and they got to take care of me. That was the most healing time for us.”
She added, “I was in a vulnerable place of like, ‘I don’t have anything to protect myself, I am completely raw, so maybe I can hear you more now, and even though I didn’t think that you were understanding at the time, maybe you are, and I can actually receive it now because my guard is down and my heart is open.’ And so that’s when we really went through more of our healing and communication as adults.”
During this period, Hough’s family grew closer as they navigated the aftermath of her past abuse. She acknowledged that her parents felt a sense of guilt when they learned what she had endured during her teenage years. At the time, they didn’t know how to respond and often felt helpless, unsure of how to support her.
Ready for love again?
In 2025, Julianne Hough opened up about being ready for love — but on her own terms. The Dancing with the Stars host told E! News that she’s drawn more to energy than appearances.
”It’s all energy-based,” she explained. “” don’t really have a type. It’s more connection, and that’s it.”
Julianne Hough has been open about her battle with endometriosis, a painful condition affecting the tissue lining the uterus. She was diagnosed in 2008 and went public to help break the stigma surrounding the disease.
