Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest’s relationship certainly didn’t start off on the wrong foot.

“The rug was swept up from underneath me and I was just flying,” the Dancing With the Stars host recalled on the Aug. 12 episode of Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, recounting the early days of her nearly three-year romance wiht the American Idol emcee, and I was experiencing things that I didn’t even know existed.”

And while their glamorous red carpet appearances and yacht getaways made it seem like everything was picture-perfect, Hough eventually began feeling like something was out of sync.

“I had this insecurity that I was like, 'I don't ever want anybody to think that I'm with him for this reason,’” she continued. “And so then I started playing smaller.”

Soon, Hough could see herself change.

“I, again, overcompensated,” the Safe Haven star added, explaining that she “was malleable to fit into exactly what somebody needed me to be for them to be happy.”

And she suggested it’s a pattern that’s made her now question all of her past relationships.

“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,” she noted on the podcast. “And so let me be what that needs to be so that I can be loved. 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? I don't wanna overanalyze it because every person I've also dated has been a very good person.”

One thing Hough knows for sure is that people had a lot of opinions when she and Seacrest split in 2013.

“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?’” the 36-year-old remembered. “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.’ And of course I was like, ‘I need to create this,’ competitively, like, it's not mine. And I wanna feel the pride of doing it.”

As for how their romance began, Hough said people had been shipping her and Seacrest for a long time.

“People for four years tried to hook us up,” the then-24-year-old  shared on a 2012 episode of the radio show Covino & Rich, “and it just never worked.”

Before dating Seacrest, Hough was engaged to a guy she knew from her childhood days in Utah. After they split, she formed a relationship with her Dancing With the Stars season eight partner, country singer Chuck Wicks, in 2008. And as fate would have it, the duo ended up appearing on Seacrest’s radio show.

“The interview's on YouTube, and I blush when I hear it because Ryan is hitting on me the entire time!” Hough told Glamour in 2012. “At the end, Ryan said something like, ‘You guys really have something special!’ And I thought to myself, He's so full of s--t right now!”

Hough and Wicks parted ways in 2009, and she and Seacrest began dating soon after.

“When Chuck and I broke up, I wanted to be single,” she recalled to the magazine. “That lasted five months. Then Ryan and I went on a date.”

Throughout their relationship, the Footloose actress and the On Air With Ryan Seacrest host were spotted sitting courtside at Lakers games, attending Met Galas and award shows, going on beach vacations and supporting each other in their careers.

“He’s phenomenal,” Hough said on a 2010 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “He’s really romantic. He’s not even in town, and I got in my car and there’s flowers everywhere.”

Of course, Seacrest raved about the Burlesque alum, too—calling her “the best part of every day” during a 2013 episode of Chelsea Handler’s show Chelsea Lately. 

But that spring, sources confirmed to E! that Seacrest and Hough split. And that's when the dancer really decided to take some time for herself.

"I'm a relationship girl, and I feel so grateful for the ones I've been in,” Hough told Self in a February 2014 piece. “They've been excellent—I've been hurt but never angry—and they've helped me grow to be who I am today. But my goal has been to be single for an entire year. There have been moments when I'm like, 'This sucks!' But my dad used to say to me, 'When you feel happy with who you are, you won't need anybody to fill a void.' So for now, I'm focusing on my work and my soul. I honestly don't care if I meet somebody or not. I'm just loving life on my own with my own two feet on the ground.”

But she did meet somebody: Hough told Redbook she and former NHL player Brooks Laich were introduced at a seminar in November 2013—months before they were spotted kissing in February 2014—and expressed how their romance differed from the ones of her past.

“Every relationship, there was nothing wrong or bad, but there was nothing right,” Hough told the magazine that summer. “I had one foot out because I didn’t want to get hurt. And I didn’t say what was on my mind because I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. I needed to be perfect. But now I’m not holding anything back, because I’d rather get my heart broken than never know what it is to be completely, madly in love. If I had been this open in my last relationship, who knows?”

When the couple tied the knot in 2017, Seacrest congratulated them. Although, this may not come as a surprise as Hough—who filed for divorce from Laich in 2020 and finalized it just over a year later—and Seacrest have remained on good terms.

“She feels the same I do,” the 49-year-old—who dated Aubrey Paige for three years before they split earlier in 2024—said on a 2022 episode of his radio show On Air With Ryan Seacrest when Hough was a guest. “There is nothing uncomfortable about it because we remain friends for years and still are.”

As for the future, Hough is ready for her next act.

"My heart is open," she told People in April 2022 ahead of her Broadway debut. "I'm leading with love but not necessarily searching for anything. I'm focusing on the things that make me happy. I'm focusing on going to the flower shop and buying beautiful flowers to make my house feel great. And I'm focused on being the best version of myself. I'm excited to be in this state of openness."

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