Julianne Hough Addresses Her Sexuality After Coming Out as ‘Not Straight’

Julianne Hough is navigating her own path when it comes to her sexuality.

Appearing on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show,” the 36-year-old explained how different life has been since coming out in 2019.

“Coming out is one of the most vulnerable and empowering things that you can do. 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,'” the Dancing With the Stars host told Lima.

“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.’ 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,” she continued.

While married to NHL star Brooks Laich, the dancer came out, and she stated that it helped the duo build “a more intimate relationship.”

“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry what?’ I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you,'” she told Women’s Health in 2019.

“I think there’s a safety with my husband now that I’m unpacking all of this,” Hough stated, adding that “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.”

Hough and Laich tied the knot in 2017. The former flames split in 2020, and finalized their divorce in 2022.