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Julianne Hough is opening up about her three-year relationship with Ryan Seacrest—or more specifically, how it ended.
The Dancing With the Stars co-host, who dated Seacrest from 2010 to 2013, discussed why she ultimately chose to part ways with the American Idol host on Monday’s episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.
The 36-year-old explained that, at the time, her career was just beginning to take off, whereas Seacrest, 49, was already well-established in the television and radio industry. So, in an effort to carve out a career for herself independent of the relationship, she decided to call it quits.
“I remember when I decided to break things off,” she told Shepard. “I had a lot of these Brentwood moms and producers in that world who were like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ They were like, ‘Your life is completely set up.’”
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 23: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough pose backstage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 23, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
But Hough realized that the life she was living and the trajectory it was on were not something she had built herself; rather, she felt she was merely riding the wave of her then-partner’s fame.
“The rug was swept up from underneath me, and I was just flying, experiencing things that I didn’t even know existed,” Hough said. “But I had this insecurity—I didn’t want anyone to think I was with him for the wrong reasons.”
“Of course, I thought, ‘I need to create this myself,’” she continued. “Competitively, it wasn’t mine. I needed to feel the pride of doing it on my own.”
In trying to navigate the relationship, Hough also admitted she “overcompensated to fit into exactly what somebody needed” in order “for them to be happy” rather than focusing on her own happiness.
“And 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. So, I would become whatever I needed to be in order to be loved.”
After her split from Seacrest, Hough began dating hockey player Brooks Laich later that same year. The two married in 2017 but filed for divorce in 2020, finalizing it in 2022.
“We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate,” they said in a joint statement. “We share an abundance of love and respect for one another and will continue to lead with our hearts from that place.”
