Julianne Hough Recalls How Things ‘Fell Apart’ During ‘Darkest Time’ in Life

Julianne Hough is getting candid about the “darkest time” in her life — and how she ultimately found her way through it.

In a recent video interview with Dhar Mann, an influencer and entrepreneur dedicated to sharing real-life stories that inspire and uplift, Hough, 37, explained that she experienced immense success early in her career, which ironically set the stage for later struggles.

She said that after “hustling” in Los Angeles for about six months, she got the job to work as a dancer on season 4 of Dancing with the Stars in 2007.

“I ended up doing the show and won my first two seasons back-to-back,” Hough recalled. “It was like a ripple effect. The stars were aligned.”

“I ended up getting a country music record deal and had a No. 1 album and best new female vocalist, best new artist,” she continued. “And then I started doing movies with Tom Cruise and had this amazing, like, momentum.”

However, Hough said things eventually took a major turn.

“Everything was going, going, going, and then everything fell apart,” she told Mann, 41.

“My dogs were killed by coyotes,” she explained, referring to her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Lexi and Harley, who died in 2019, before adding that her marriage also “started unraveling.”

Hough married former professional hockey player Brooks Laich in July 2017. They announced their separation in May 2020 and filed for divorce in November of that same year. The divorce was finalized in 2022.

While speaking to Mann, Hough said that other foundational elements in her life — like work and friendships — also began to shift and change at that time.

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“My career, my friend group, everything that I had known really started taking a different shape. That was very much, like, probably the darkest time,” she recalled.

The Footloose star said she eventually began the process of moving forward, but it wasn’t easy.

“It was a process and it was timing,” she explained. “You can’t rush healing. You can’t rush the time frame that you need to go through to learn a lesson.”

“But I will say that I poured my energy into self-care,” she added. “I poured my energy into things that brought me joy, which are friendships, and really invested into others. I think that the minute you feel isolated or lonely, the minute you can think about serving someone else, it brings you so much joy and momentum, and it literally changes the frequency and vibration in your whole body. But it’s a journey and it’s a process and it doesn’t happen overnight.”

Hough went on to say that she has found that choosing to surround herself with the “good people” and positivity has also been a huge part of her journey.

“You know, we live in such a world that is so fast-paced, and we’re inundated with so much information. Surround yourself with good people … or read the content that inspires you and brings you joy instead of comparison,” Hough said.

“I think sometimes when we look at so many other people’s stuff, we feel like we have to be like them, but your uniqueness is so beautiful and you are one of one,” she added.