Julianne Hough credits her ex-husband Brooks Laich for helping her overcome childhood trauma during their time together.
She said on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” Tuesday that when the former couple married in 2017, the dancer felt a need to “reconnect” with her 10-year-old self.
“What did I need at 10 years old? I really needed security and, almost, like, a father figure to come in and be a grounding force of stability,” the “Dancing With the Stars” co-host, 36, explained.
Their dynamism gave Hough a “little girl feeling” with “stability and [a] “A Stable Man” at Home
The actress added, “They gave me a beautiful foundation for being a little girl,” and recalled how she was “able to begin that healing.”
Hough later “became more feminine” and “listen[ed] To [her] “more voices” as she began to “shift and change and question”.
When the first part of the podcast episode came up, Hough gave some insight into the trauma she experienced in her young life.
The “Safe Haven” star revealed that she was sexually abused by her neighbor at the age of 4.
“Whatever happened, it didn't have much effect. Nobody did anything,” he told listeners on August 14.
Hough has been peeling back the curtain on her childhood and love life all month while promoting her book “Everything We Never Knew.”
During a recent “Armchair Expert” episode, the Emmy winner admitted that her relationship with Laich, 41, began “deteriorating” shortly after they tied the knot in Idaho.
“I married a man who was like a father to me, and when he was changing, I was changing too,” Hough said, clarifying that the retired NHL player was “shrinking” as she was “expanding.”[ed],
Ending their romance felt like it “uprooted” everything she had “established” [her] Control and…protection.”
However, Hough called her ex-husband a “great human being” and described both their marriage and breakup as “absolutely perfect.”
The former couple's split was reported in May 2020, with the two writing a joint statement explaining that they still have “a lot of love and respect” for one another.
The “America's Got Talent” judge filed for divorce five months later and it was finalized in February 2022.
Laich has since moved on with CrossFit athlete Katrin Tanja Davíðsdóttir.
At the same time, Hough hasn’t made any new romances public — other than kissing model Charlie Wilson in Los Angeles in November 2021 — and teasing her plans for a “Hot Girl Summer” in 2023.