Julianne Hough's Candid Quotes About Coming Out as 'Not Straight'

Julianne Hough is an open book when it comes to her sexuality.

The Dancing With the Stars cohost previously revealed that she is “not straight” while speaking to Women’s Health for a cover story in 2019. At the time, she was married to former NHL player Brooks Laich. (The couple split in 2020 after nearly three years of marriage, and their divorce was finalized in June 2022.)

“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’” Hough told the magazine. “I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you.’”

She added, “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.”

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In the years since, Hough has continued to candidly talk about her sexuality — keep reading for all her quotes on coming out as “not straight.”

Knowing Her Truth

The professional dancer reflected on how people immediately labeled her shortly after she addressed her sexuality.

“I don’t find it frustrating,” Hough exclusively told Us Weekly at the America’s Got Talent live show red carpet August 2019. “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 added: “The energy behind it is that, love is love. And that’s what I believe. That’s it! Like, it’s actually less complicated than everybody’s making it. It’s just, love is love.”

‘Grateful’ for Support

Hough thanked her loved ones for their support after coming out as “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,” the Safe Haven actress told Extra in an interview in August 2019. “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.”

Exploring Sexual Energy

Hough encouraged people to explore their sexual energy at a Kinrgy event in February 2020, telling participants that she used her new workout method “for my own transformation, to help me connect to my absolute truth of who I am.”

(Kinrgy is a “movement” created by Hough that “encompasses practices that not only strengthen our physical body, but also fosters our mental, emotional and energetic health.”)

She continued, “It helped me see the people around me for who they truly were, and be able to experience life as it should be, which is through love … Take this opportunity to touch yourself. Feel yourself. Know what you deserve. Feel pressure for yourself. This isn’t about anyone else; this is about you. Feel your bodies. It’s about expressing, letting go and releasing. This is your sexual energy — it is meant for creation. It is not meant to be put out to anyone else if you don’t want it. This is for you.”

Her Authentic Self

While speaking exclusively to Us about her Kinrgy method in May 2020, Hough elaborated on how the program isn’t just about getting a good workout in, but rather a good tool to connect with one’s genuine self.

“With intentional and nurturing movements through dance, we are able to awaken our senses in the most pure way, which ultimately leads to a more authentic and truer self,” she said.

Reflection

Hough reflected on coming out during a September 2024 appearance on the “Jamie Kern Lima” podcast.

“Coming out is one of the most vulnerable and empowering things that you can do,” she told host Jamie Kern Lima. “I think, for me, it’s not about being straight or gay or queer, it’s more about, I’m learning what love is, and I love people.”

Experiencing Love

In that same podcast appearance, Hough talked about embracing the freedom of loving people for who they are, regardless of gender or sexuality.

“That is the freedom of the love that I was starting to experience in seeing people because I was able to take off a level of protection instead of being so internalized,” she said. “So, I was starting to see people and seeing their hearts and seeing their beauty and their essence. I was like, ‘Wow, I love people and I don’t know if it’s a sexual attraction or this attraction, but I’m just seeing people.’ That was, like, such a beautiful revelation.”

Her Future Partner

On a later episode of the “Jamie Kern Lima” podcast near the end of September 2024, Hough revealed that she sees herself settling down with a man when she’s ready.

“I feel like I’m going to end up with a man,” Hough confessed, noting that she is open to something different.

“I want to be living and vibrating in the pace of my most authentic self for that to be what attracts whoever it is versus I’m gonna put what I think I want and need out there and then literally force-create it,” Hough said, adding that she wants to have “a partner” and “build a life with somebody and have a family.”

She continued, “That’s still, like, where my heart is open, but I’m content, which content used to scare the s— out of me.”