Julianne Hough has not one, but two important men in her life.
The America’s Got Talent judge, 31, talked about how her older brother Derek, 34, and husband Brooks Laich, 36, complement each other, despite their different personalities.
“Derek just did Brooks’ podcast, ‘How Men Think,’ and it’s cool, the fact that my husband and my brother — who are the two most important men in my life — the fact that they get along and they actually push each other, you know?” Hough told Entertainment Tonight at the Industry Dance Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 14. “Like, Derek is an artist. Brooks is like, you know, masculine, hockey athlete. They both give each other something new and help each other grow, so it’s really cool.”
In regards to what her big bro and hubby talk about, the Dancing With the Stars judge knows it’s definitely not her.
“They don’t talk about me, oh, no,” she said. “They’re doing their own thing. They’re talking about GoPros and, like, the next adventure they’re gonna do together. They’re not talking about me.”
As for Hough’s own relationship with her husband, the couple is going strong. The Footloose actress recently came out as “not straight” in Women’s Health’s September 2019 cover story.
“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’” Hough said. “I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you.’”
She continued, “I think there’s a safety with my husband now that I’m unpacking all of this, and 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.”
Still, Hough admitted that she had doubts about her relationship with Laich, given her own struggle with opening up.
“I was connecting to the woman inside that doesn’t need anything, versus the little girl that looked to him to protect me. I was like, ‘Is he going to love this version of me?’” she recalled. “But the more I dropped into my most authentic self, the more attracted he was to me. Now we have a more intimate relationship.”
Hough and Laich married in July 2017 after nearly four years of dating. The former NHL player told Us Weekly in June 2019 about how his wife has “challenged” for the better.
“I am so grateful to [have] her presence in my life every day. I’m grateful for the way she has challenged me, and the way that I have grown since meeting her,” Laichs said.
He continued, “I feel like I’m a completely different person and I’ve grown to be the man that I had always hoped I would be, and I’m still working on it. I’m not perfect, continue to grow, but she, without a doubt, has brought out the best in me and I am grateful that she chooses to be in my life every single day.”
