Despite his marital issues with Julianne Hough, Brooks Laich says he’s happy. In fact, he rated his happiness an 8.5 out of 10 in the Sunday, January 19, episode of his and Gavin DeGraw’s “How Men Think” podcast.
“Right now? I would be an 8.5,” Laich, 36, said. “Here’s the thing. I love the turn of the new year. I love the turn of the new decade. In my life, there are a lot of things that I’m really working towards and things that I want to step into a new stage in my life. … There’s things in my life I really want to improve and work on, but I f–king love my life. There’s good days and bad, but I love my life.”
Earlier this month, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Laich and the former America’s Got Talent judge, 31, were “having problems” in December.
“Everyone knows something is up,” an insider close to Laich told Us at the time, after Hough was spotted without her wedding ring on multiple occasions.
Laich, meanwhile, revealed on December 30 that his goals for 2020 include being “open to all things and present in my relationships” and learning “more about intimacy and my sexuality.”
The hockey player elaborated on that second goal in Sunday’s podcast episode. “People think sexuality is just the act of sex, of just having sex,” he said. “There’s much more to it. Here’s an honest question for everybody in this room and every single person listening. Are you full — 100 percent — full expressed in your true sexuality? With your partner? That you could not imagine a better sex life with your partner. Are you truly there? … I’m not either. I’m not either.”
He went on: “Do you even know who you are actually? I truly, in my core, do not. I’m super excited about that journey to learn about sexuality and also to get better at the performance of it … but also the understanding of who I am, who my wife is … that sort of dance.”
In the episode, Laich vowed to pursue a “pleasure first” philosophy. “If I looked at my life, what would the quality of my life be if I woke up prioritizing pleasure as the absolute most important thing in my day? Think about how you are feeling after you have expressed yourself. You are more loving, more kind, more patient … You have more gratitude. You think everyone is awesome, things are funnier. ‘Pleasure first’ is a new concept in my life that I’m trying to explore because it has not been. It has almost been last in the course of my life.”
Laich started dating Hough in early 2014 and got engaged to the former Dancing With the Stars pro in August 2015. The couple tied the knot in Idaho in July 2017.
