Julianne Hough opens up about split from Ryan Seacrest: 'I definitely was in full self-preservation mode'

Julianne Hough is looking back at her three-year-long relationship with Ryan Seacrest. 

The Dancing With the Stars cohost opened up about why she ultimately chose to part ways with the American Idol host on Monday’s episode of Armchair Expert with host Dax Shepard.  

Hough explained that she and Seacrest began dating just as her career was taking off in 2010, which made her worried that others would see their relationship and get the wrong idea that she was trying to attach herself to someone who was already-established within the entertainment industry. 

“The rug was swept up from underneath me, and I was just flying, and I was experiencing things that I didn't even know existed,” Hough recalled. “But then I had this insecurity that I was like, ‘I don't ever want anybody to think that I'm with him for this reason.’ And so I then started playing smaller.”

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Shepard interjected, “You didn't want to seem like you were out there to try to get your own attention, or using him.” Hough agreed, noting that Seacrest had dealt with that “in past situations” before their "romantic" and "exciting" relationship.

So, she pivoted to be what he needed. “I, again, overcompensated,” she explained. “[I] was malleable to fit into exactly what somebody needed me to be for them to be happy. And what I've realized over the years is I don't know if I've ever truly been in love with someone, but I have loved the feeling of being loved. And so let me be what that needs to be so that I can be loved.”

The effects of seeking that validation and affection through another person are something that Hough is still coming to terms with now. 

“And then because I'm so filled with love from someone, of course I love you. I love everyone. I've been in love with everybody I've ever dated, but have I?” She asked. “I don't wanna overanalyze it because every person I've also dated has been a very good person.”

Hough shared that she ended her relationship with Seacrest in order to build a name for herself independently in 2013. Although, she noted, others around her didn’t fully understand why. 

“I remember when I decided to break things off, I had a lot of these Brentwood moms and producers in that world that were like, ‘What are you doing?’” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ They're like, ‘Your life is completely set up.’ And I was, like, ‘But I didn't build it.’” 

She added, “I didn’t think about what people thought. I was just wrestling on the inside… I definitely was in full self-preservation mode, so I was only concerned about me.”  

Hough began dating hockey player Brooks Laich shortly after her split with Seacrest. The pair tied the knot in 2017, but announced that they would be getting a divorce three years later in 2020.

Listen to Hough discuss her relationship with Seacrest in the podcast above.