Julianne Hough Reflects on Coming Out as 'Not Straight': 'One of the Most Vulnerable and Empowering Things'

Mar. 15, 2025

Julianne Hough attends 2024 Disney Upfront.Photo:Taylor Hill/WireImage

Taylor Hill/WireImage

Julianne Houghis opening up more about her sexuality more than five years after she revealed that she was “not straight.”

On Tuesday, Aug. 27, theDancing with the Starshost, 36, made an appearance onThe Jamie Kern Lima Showpodcast to describe how her life has changed since the 2019Women’s Healthstory in which she came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Coming out is one of the most vulnerable and empowering things that you can do,” Hough told host Jamie Kern Lima. “I think for me, it was very much like — it’s not about being straight or gay or bi or queer. It’s more about, ‘I think I’m just learning like what love is and I love people and I don’t know what I’m attracted to, but I choose you.’ "

“I was starting to see people and seeing their hearts and seeing their beauty and their essence coming through in a way that I was like, ‘Wow, I love people,’ " she continued. “And I don’t know if it’s a sexual attraction or a ‘this’ attraction, but I’m just seeing people. And that was such a beautiful revelation too.”

In August 2019, Hough opened up toWomen’s Healthabout her relationship with NHL playerBrooks Laich, now herex-husband. At the time, she revealed that she had been on a journey of self-discovery and spoke about howcoming out to her husbandgave them “a more intimate relationship.”

“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry what?' ” she explained at the time. “I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you.’ ”

“I think there’s a safety with my husband now that I’m unpacking all of this,” Hough continued, “and there’s no fear of voicing things that I’ve been afraid to admit or that I’ve had shame or guilt about because of what I’ve been told or how I was raised.”

“I feel really lucky, and a lot of people who don’t have the platform or the support that I have aren’t that lucky,” she said in August 2019. “So I just want to say I’m super grateful for my family, my friends and the support from all my fans that I’ve had. But also to spread that … to the people who don’t have that kind of support. That would be my wish.”

Julianne Hough attends The 77th Annual Tony Awards in 2024.Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Since Hough’s split from Laich in 2020, theDancing with the Starspro has been candid about their relationship struggles, tellingDax Shepardon an episode ofArmchair Expertearlier this month that “we’ve definitely accepted what happened, but we’re sad that it didn’t work out because I’ve only dated great human beings.”

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“I feel like our relationship and our marriage was exactly right, and the end of it is right too,” she explained. “We both have regrets that it didn’t work out because I don’t think we had the maturity to come together.”

source: people.com