Julianne Hough Says Ex Played Key Role In Healing Her Childhood Trauma

Julianne Hough recently shared her harrowing experience of sexual abuse, disclosing that she was abused by a neighbor when she was just four years old.

In a deeply emotional conversation earlier this month, the "Footloose" actress opened up about the trauma she faced during her early childhood, allowing herself to be vulnerable and revealing a difficult part of her past. She not only spoke about her own experience as a sexual abuse survivor but also mentioned that her family had its own share of traumatic experiences.

She later married Brooks Laich, but the couple divorced in 2020. Despite their separation, Julianne Hough credits her ex-husband with playing a significant role in her healing journey.

After spending the COVID-19 pandemic apart and facing increasing speculation about their troubled marriage, Hough and Laich announced their separation in a statement to People Magazine in May 2020.

"We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate," they wrote in their joint statement. "We share an abundance of love and respect for one another and will continue to lead with our hearts from that place. We kindly request your compassion and respect for our privacy moving forward."

A few months later, despite speculation about a potential reconciliation, Hough officially filed for divorce in November of that year.

When on the “Jamie Kern Lima Show" on Tuesday, the professional dancer discussed her childhood trauma once again, telling viewers, “What did I need at 10? I really needed safety and almost, like, a father figure to come in and be that grounding force of stability."

She added that when she married Laich in 2017, their dynamic provided Hough with a “little girl feeling” and brought her “stability and [a] stable man” at home.

“He provided such a beautiful foundation for me to be a little girl,” the actress said of her ex, recalling how she “was able to start that healing.”

The "Dancing With The Stars" co-host added that she was able to become “more of a woman” and “listen[ed] to [her] voice more” as she began “shifting and changing and questioning.”

Earlier this month, Hough let down her walls as she came forward as a sexual abuse victim. “My first experience was when I was about four years old. [It was] a neighbor in our cul-de-sac," she said, per Us Weekly. "I’ve actually never said that out loud to someone in an interview before. That was a very confusing time, because growing up in the Mormon culture, everything needs to be perfect.”

The "DWTS" pro added, “And by the way, I’m not the only one in my family that had gone through similar things. And so that was a very challenging thing to come to terms with, which is that nobody did anything. Being so young, and those being your first experiences — whether it be physical, mental, sexual — those abuses of power to someone who is vulnerable to it — it immediately sets a precedent of: other people have the power.”

“When I came back and told my mom at four, my clothes were inside out, she asked why they were inside out," Hough recalled. "I said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ And she said, ‘Tell me what happened.'"

"My only way of describing it — because we weren’t allowed carbonation as kids — was saying, ‘I felt like I had a Sprite bottle between my legs.’ So she freaked out and was panicking and her response was, ‘Get up and move.’ The reaction thing was let’s move out of this neighborhood," the singer recalled--and they did.

Hough recently discussed her 2020 divorce and how it has led her to reconnect with her parents, saying, "During my divorce is when I really reconnected with my parents and they showed up for me — as my parents, and I needed that."

She continued, "I reclaimed my parental relationship with them and I got to be the kid and they got to take care of me. And that was the most healing [thing].”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).