Julianne Hough

Best known for her time on ABC’s reality series Dancing with the Stars, Julianne Hough is a professional ballroom dancer, actress and country singer.

Born in 1988 in Orem, Utah, Hough — whose brother, Derek, also competed on DWTS — began dancing as a child and even trained and competed professionally in London. When she returned to the U.S. five years later, Hough moved to Los Angeles to jump-start her dance career.

Her big break came when she was approached to participate on the fourth season of DWTS. As a direct result of her talents, Hough has earned two mirrorball trophies on the series and was recognized with an Outstanding Choreography Emmy nomination in 2008. She scored two more Emmy nods and won in 2015 with her brother and Tessandra Chavez.

The multi-talent released her self-titled debut album in 2008, which quickly rose up the country music charts. In June 2009, she was offered a role in the movie remake of Footloose. In 2016, she played Sandy in the Live Fox TV production of Grease. Three years later she served as a judge for one season of America’s Got Talent.

Hough, who had pledged abstinence until marriage, dated Ryan Seacrest for two years until the couple split in 2013. She married Brooks Laich in July 2017. The pair announced their separation in May 2020 after months of speculation about their marriage.