A strong support system. Julianne Hough revealed that her family has been in her corner after revealing that she is “not straight.”
“I feel really lucky and a lot of people who don’t have the platform or support that I have aren’t that lucky,” Hough, 31, told Extra in an interview on Tuesday, August 20. “I just want to say I’m super grateful for my family, my friends, and the support from all the fans I’ve had. But also to spread that to … the people who don’t have that kind of support. That would be my wish.”
The America’s Got Talent judge also noted that her mother, Marriann, is proud of her for sharing her truth. “She is, she’s amazing,” Hough told the news outlet.
Hough first detailed her sexuality to Women’s Health for its September 2019 cover story. In the interview, she revealed the conversation she had with her husband of two years, Brooks Laich, about how she did not identify as straight.
“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’” the Dancing With the Stars alum recalled. “I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you.’”
The Footloose actress felt comfortable confiding in the 36-year-old NHL alum about her sexual orientation, adding: “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.”
Laich praised Hough’s courage in a sweet Instagram post. “So proud of my wife @juleshough for the woman she is, and her courage to share her journey of trials and triumphs!” he previously wrote. “You can learn more about it below, and join the movement she is creating surround personal transformation and growth! Love you so much babe!”
Though Laich and Hough’s family have had her back, not all have been fully supportive.
“I don’t find it frustrating,” she told Us Weekly at the America’s Got Talent live show red carpet on August 13. “I know my truth and I know the energy behind whatever I said and what was put out there. People will define or label anything in this world and everything in this world, so I’m not mad at people who do that. It is what it is!”
Hough noted that “love is love,” adding that her revelation is “actually less complicated than everybody’s making it.”
America’s Got Talent airs on NBC Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
