Julianne Hough has shed light on her split from American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
The actress, who romanced the famed TV host between 2010 to 2013, opened up during her conversation with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast in 2024, exploring their past romance and the breakdown that led to their farewell.
Reflecting on her early career days as an ambitious country music hopeful wrapped up in her then-beau’s glitzy Hollywood life, the Dancing With the Stars veteran recalled feeling out of her depth. “The rug was swept up from underneath me, and I was just flying and I was experiencing things that I didn’t even know existed,” she divulged to Shepard.
With a nod to authenticity, Julianne added, “But then I had this insecurity that I was like, ‘I don’t ever want anybody to think that I’m with him for this reason.’ And so I then started playing smaller.”
She also recounted how Seacrest had been wary in the past due to others “using” him, which only intensified her fears of being mischaracterized. She admitted overcompensating: “I again overcompensated, [I] was malleable to fit into exactly what somebody needed me to be for them to be happy,” the star shared candidly.
“When I decided to break things off, I had a lot of these Brentwood moms and producers in that world that were like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ They’re like, ‘Your life is completely set up,'” she recalled them saying. “And I was like, ‘But I didn’t build it.’ I insisted, ‘I need to create this. Competitively, it’s not mine. I need to feel the pride of doing it.'”.
Delving into her past relationship made the dancer ponder her romantic history, leading her to question whether she had ever fully fallen in love. “What I’ve realized over the years is I don’t know if I’ve ever truly been in love with someone, but I have loved the feeling of being loved-and so let me be what that needs to be so that I can be loved,” Julianne revealed.
“And then because I’m so filled with love from someone, of course I love you. I love everyone. I’ve been in love with everyone I’ve dated, but have I? I don’t want to overanalyze it, because every person I’ve also dated has been a very good person.”
The dancer entered matrimony with NHL star Brooks Laich in 2017, only to part ways two years later when things didn’t feel “right” from early on in their union. “That was the year [2017] we got married and the year everything kinda started to unravel,” she expressed regretfully.
“We both have regrets that it didn’t work out, because I don’t think we had the maturity to come together. He was contracting while I was expanding. We just couldn’t find each other in that.”
TV producer Ryan is riding solo these days, having never been hitched. His romance with Aubrey Paige concluded this April after a charming three-year stint.
“After three beautiful years together, Ryan and Aubrey have mutually decided to part ways,” an insider confided to People magazine. “They plan to stay in each other’s lives as good friends and support one another’s endeavors.”