Julianne Hough has recently opened up about the profound impact her ex-husband, Brooks Laich, had on her healing journey, particularly in addressing her childhood trauma. During their marriage, Hough found herself reconnecting with parts of her younger self that had been neglected for years.
In a candid conversation on the “Jamie Kern Lima Show” this week, Hough reflected on her marriage to Laich, which began in 2017. At that time, the “Dancing With the Stars” co-host, who is now 36, felt a deep need to “reconnect” with her 10-year-old self. She explained that this inner child craved safety and stability, something she had been missing during her formative years.
“What did I need at 10? I really needed safety and almost, like, a father figure to come in and be that grounding force of stability,” Hough shared during the interview. She went on to describe how Laich provided that sense of security, allowing her to experience a “little girl feeling” within the safety of their relationship. According to Hough, the stability that Laich brought into her life gave her the foundation she needed to start healing from past wounds.
“He provided such a beautiful foundation for me to be a little girl,” she continued, noting how this dynamic allowed her to begin the healing process. Over time, Hough said she started to evolve, becoming “more of a woman” and learning to listen to her inner voice as she began “shifting and changing and questioning” her life and her choices.
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Hough’s journey of self-discovery and healing also included confronting the trauma she experienced as a child. In the first part of the podcast episode, released earlier in August, Hough revealed a painful memory from her early life. She shared that she was sexually abused by a neighbor when she was just 4 years old—a traumatic experience that was never properly addressed. “There was not a lot of repercussion for what had happened,” Hough told listeners. “Nobody did anything.”
As Hough promotes her new book, “Everything We Never Knew,” she has been opening up more about her childhood and her relationships. In a recent episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast, the Emmy winner discussed how her marriage to Laich, now 41, began to unravel soon after their wedding in Idaho. Hough explained that while Laich had been a grounding, father-like figure for her, both of them were undergoing significant personal changes. She described Laich as “contracting” while she was “expanding,” leading to a divergence in their paths.
The end of their marriage, while painful, felt necessary to Hough. She likened it to “uprooting” everything she had built for her own control and protection. Despite the challenges, Hough spoke fondly of Laich, calling him a “great human being” and acknowledging that both their marriage and their eventual separation were “exactly right” for them at the time.
The couple announced their split in May 2020, emphasizing the “abundance of love and respect” they still held for one another. Hough filed for divorce five months later, and their divorce was finalized in February 2022. Since their split, Laich has moved on with CrossFit athlete Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir, while Hough has kept her romantic life relatively private. Though she was seen kissing model Charlie Wilson in November 2021 and teased her plans for a “hot girl summer” in 2023, she has not gone public with any new serious relationships.
Through it all, Hough continues to reflect on her past and how it has shaped her into the person she is today.
Her willingness to share her journey openly has resonated with many, offering insights into the complexities of healing, relationships, and personal growth.
