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Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union Will Not Be Returning as Judges on ‘America’s Got Talent’

Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union Will Not Be Returning as Judges on ‘America's Got Talent’
Gabrielle Union and Julianne HoughTrae Patton/NBC

Saying goodbye. Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union will not be returning as judges for season 15 of America’s Got Talent in 2020, according to a Variety.

Related: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade Through the Years

An NBC official confirmed the news on Friday, November 22, Variety reported. The Dancing With the Stars champ, 31, and the Being Mary Jane alum, 47, joined the panel earlier this year, replacing longtime judges Melanie “Mel B” Brown and Heidi Klum.

Union previously told Us Weekly that she loved her job on the competition series and did not have any guilt about working while raising daughter Kaavia, 12 months, with her husband, former NBA player Dwyane Wade.

“I don’t have mom guilt, and I’ll tell you why,” the actress told Us exclusively in August. “Being able to have the job that I love and the baby that I dreamed of [is great]. I’m a better mom because I’m able to go away and do what I love. Even if I failed miserably, I’m following my dreams. … I would be less of a mother if I didn’t set out every day to try to make my dreams come true and other people’s dreams come true. So I don’t have guilt.”

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While the Bring It On alum may have enjoyed her AGT gig, she previously revealed that she would not want her daughter to compete on the NBC series.

“It takes a certain kind of person,” Union told Us and other reporters in August. “Actors are gluttons for punishment. … To have those moments that can feel like your heart is getting ripped out of your chest, and America and the world is, like, weighing in and finding that entertaining — I think that is a hard thing to wrap your brain around. There’s nothing normal about that, and it’s hard.”

Hough, meanwhile, told Us that hosting America’s Got Talent felt “natural” to her and that nothing made her happier than watching the contestants succeed and be “happy and fulfilled.”

“I love ballroom dancing, but I love to sing and I love to act and I love to perform. I do different styles of dance,” she explained in August. “So this [America’s Got Talent] feels more encompassing of my passion and fulfillment to be able to be on this show, watching other people’s dreams come true.”

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Executive producer and judge Simon Cowell, host Terry Crews and comedian Howie Mandel are all expected to return to the NBC show, according to Variety.

Union is currently working on the second season of the Bad Boy spinoff series, L.A.’s Finest, which she also executive produces. Hough is scheduled to star as Jolene in the upcoming Dolly Parton Netflix series Heartstrings.

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