Strange Things About Julianne Hough's Marriage

Julianne Hough has been involved in a series of high-profile relationships, starting with a year-long romance with country crooner Chuck Wicks that ended in 2009 and a failed relationship with TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest that lasted for three years before it went up in flames in 2013. "Every relationship, there was nothing wrong or bad, but there was nothing right," she later told Us Weekly.

That all changed a year after she and Seacrest split, and the Dancing with the Stars judge began dating professional hockey player Brooks Laich. By August 2015, the two were engaged. "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," she told the publication.

As happy as we were for the couple when they tied the knot in an outdoor wedding near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in 2017, we still can't ignore the rather peculiar circumstances surrounding their relationship. Here are some of the strange things about Julianne Hough's marriage.

Long before they had their first face-to-face meeting, Brooks Laich was watching television when he saw a 2008 Juicy Fruit chewing gum commercial starring the blonde beauty. He asked his friend, actor Teddy Sears, "Where do I meet a girl like that?" Julianne Hough recalled on Laich's behalf while sharing their love story with Cosmopolitan magazine.

Years later, Sears and Hough starred in a never-released horror movie, Curve, and Sears remembered the conversation he had with Laich a few years prior. "[Sears] remembered that comment and texted Brooks, 'You're never going to guess who I'm doing a movie with,'" Hough told the magazine.

Sears invited Laich out to Los Angeles, and the professional hockey player joked, "What are you going to do — hook me up with that Juicy Fruit starlet?"

Little did Laich know, the woman from that commercial was his future wife, so, oddly enough, they now have Juicy Fruit to thank for their union.

Those who follow the pair on their respective social media accounts are accustomed to the couple sharing every pivotal moment of their lives online, including the photo Brooks Laich snapped at the exact moment he asked Julianne Hough to be his girlfriend.

He didn't share the picture until three years after they became official and included a caption, which read, in part, "Three years ago today I asked this incredible woman to be my girlfriend, this is the photo we took right after I asked her!"

Laich went on to declare, "And today it's hard to even think of what life was like before her. She is the most kind, generous and loving person I have ever met, and I am so grateful every single day to be by her side." Aww!

Cuteness overload aside, does everything need to be shared? From hunky Laich posing shirtless to Hough's tousled bed head and, um, euphoric facial expression in the photo, we're screaming, "T.M.I.!" at the top of our lungs.

Brooks Laich was so head over heels in love with Julianne Hough, he knew she would be his future bride long before they changed their status from "single" to "in a relationship."

While en route to a Paris getaway, Hough posted a video to Instagram (via People), in which she can be heard asking her husband, "You knew you were going to marry me before I was even your girlfriend?" Laich replies, "One hundred percent."

He was so sure that Hough would be his wife one day that he did some sneaky undercover work — for research purposes, of course. "I measured your ring before we were even dating. Before you were even my girlfriend, I measured your ring," he says in the video.

There's nothing wrong with him knowing she was "the one" almost immediately, but we wonder if she would've been turned off if she were to catch him fiddling around in her jewelry box. Oh, who are we kidding. This is Hough we're talking about here. She wrote on her blog, "I knew Brooks was the one the day I met him."

So there you have it. The feeling was mutual.

After saying their "I do's," the couple jetted off to a super romantic honeymoon on a private island in the Seychelles, followed by a safari in Kenya. But there was nothing private about their post-nuptial getaway at all. Julianne Hough documented the entire trip on her social media account, starting with a photo at the airport with the couple showing off their wedding bands and passports.

What followed next included selfies of the pair looking madly in love and a picture of Hough walking topless on a secluded beach. Ooh la la.

As much as we loved being in the FROW of their festivities, some thought the pair were oversharing, and many suggested they unplug from social media and enjoy each other's company instead. "We had a lot of photos that we took for our private collection, for sure," Hough told People magazine. "But at the same time, a lot of people were like, 'That should be your private time.'"

Ever since she pirouetted herself into his heart, Julianne Hough has had high hopes for their romance. "At the start of our relationship, Jules was like, 'I want the best effin' relationship ever,'" Brooks Laich told InStyle. "I wanted the same thing; she just verbalized it."

According to Hough, the "best relationship" is one that has the non-stop feeling of butterflies in her tummy — widely known as the "honeymoon phase." It's defined as the romantic bliss that's felt at the beginning stages of a relationship. Most couples eventually transition out of this lovey-dovey period, but Hough voiced her plans to keep it going strong within her marriage until the end of time. "I hope we're in the honeymoon stage forever," she told InStyle. "Really, you can create whatever phase you want, and I think we both realize that the life that we want to live is the honeymoon phase."

It sounds quite unrealistic, especially when Hough added, "It's a whole mindset, so just do what you did at the beginning if you don't want it to end." Oh, if only it were that easy.

We sure do wish them the best, but we hope she isn't too disappointed if the fresh and exciting period of her marriage eventually wears off.

Many couples have certain idiosyncrasies that only they are privy to, but there's no such thing as secrecy when it comes to Julianne Hough's marriage. The outspoken Dancing with the Stars judge spoke to Redbook magazine about their secret code phrase: "same team," which is now anything but a secret, thanks to Hough. 

"So if one of us feels we need to have a 'conversation,' we preface it with that. Like: 'Hey, same team. I love you, but you hurt my feelings.' So the other person goes into it with an open mind, versus being immediately defensive. And we celebrate every little victory," she told the magazine.

Maybe their code phrase really is the secret to a successful marriage. Her brother, World of Dance star Derek Hough, described her as being "happy and incredible" in the months following her wedding. Happy wife, happy life.

So the fact that they're married but they have to remind each other that they're in this together is a bit bizarre, but it obviously works for them. Kudos to the smitten couple.

Less than a year after Julianne Hough walked down the aisle in her strapless designer gown, dripping in Lorraine Schwartz jewelry, she was already gushing about how magnificent married life was. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the dancing queen dished out all the details about what was in store for her union, which included a ten-year plan and her desire to start a family.

"We'll see how it goes, what happens. We both wanted four [kids at first] and now we're like, 'Let's just take it one at a time,'" she said — which is awesome, by the way. The fact that they have the same goal to expand their family means they're definitely in sync, but the interview went a little haywire when Hough dropped a bombshell. "I've had baby fever since I was, like, five," she revealed. "I've always wanted to be a mom. Every time I see a baby, my ovaries start screaming. They're like, 'Yeah!'" Cringe.

Most guys would run for the hills if they heard their significant other make that kind of bold declaration, but, obviously, Brooks Laich really digs it when Hough gets super chatty about their baby-making plans.

This couple has jetted all across the globe together — from Paris to the Seychelles islands off of East Africa. They even went on a safari in Kruger National Park for their 2017 honeymoon, and Julianne Hough later expressed how worried she was to be in close proximity to the wild animals. "We were warned not to get up or move while in the [safari] truck because once [the animals] see you have legs, they might look at us like lunch," she wrote on her personal blog.

Her apprehension with being so close to lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) may have something to do with the couple's aversion to engaging in risk-taking activities. In their day-to-day lives, they prefer to keep things really safe and rather low-key. "We randomly will have a date night at the house and have a great conversation over dinner. [Going out and] doing things is really fun, but that's more, like, the adventurous side of us. The special moments for us are just the quality time we spend together," she told Entertainment Tonight.

Staying cooped up indoors sounds like the least adventurous night out ever, and, considering how Brooks Laich actually describes himself as an "adventurer" on his Instagram bio, it sounds like Hough is the less intrepid member of this coupledom. 

Will he get cabin fever and eventually grow tired of suppressing his need for adventure? We sure hope not, but only time will tell. 

With Julianne Hough dedicated to her DWTS duties and Brooks Laich bouncing around various teams in the National Hockey League, the pair worked hard to keep their long-distance relationship afloat. When asked by Cosmopolitan magazine if she and Laich engaged in phone sex to keep the spark alive, Hough responded, "Oh, for sure. But I'm really bad at it ... I'll get halfway through and start laughing." Well, that's one way to set the mood (said no one ever).

She added that kinky phone sessions should be considered "an art," and she had mad respect for the pros. "They need to come and help me keep a straight face!" she joked.

We're cringing at the thought of Hough giggling her way through her failed attempts at talking dirty, but Laich didn't seem to bothered by it at all. He put on a ring on it a little over a year after asking Hough to be his girlfriend. Awkward phone sex be damned.

Ever wondered what it's like to be in the FROW (front row) of Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich's bedroom? Well, your wish has been granted, because nothing is off-limits in this dancing queen's life. It all ties in to her struggles with endometriosis — "a condition in which the type of tissue that forms the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) is found outside the uterus," according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). 

After dealing with painful periods for years, Hough sought help at the age of 20 when she experienced a bout of debilitating cramping during a live taping of Dancing With The Stars. Aside from affecting her physically and mentally, Hough told Women's Health that endometriosis makes things tricky in the bedroom, and this is where she ventured off into TMI territory. "It can definitely cut things short," she said, before adding, "Sometimes we're in the middle and I'm just like 'AH, stop!'"

The television personality also revealed that they've found other ways to stay connected, including techniques that don't require Laich to place the hockey puck in the goal, if you catch our drift. "There's so much intimacy without actually having sex," she said. "There are some cool things we've learned and it's literally been awesome."

Wow — thanks for sharing!

Marriage is a huge commitment, and it's common for a bride to be overtaken by pre-wedding jitters. Julianne Hough experienced something similar prior to marrying Canadian-born Brooks Laich, but the feeling was way more intense than a little bit of nervousness. She described marriage as "amazing" in an interview with Parade, but she also confessed that getting married was the "scariest thing" she had ever done. Ever. Why? "You know, like a lot of people I was ... totally scared to commit," she told the publication.

She finally came to the realization: "The thing that I was the most scared about was the thing that actually completely set me free," she said. "So I have never been happier. I've never felt more independent and more free than I do now that I'm married."

Hough went on to say that marriage turned out to be the exact opposite of what she thought it would be. While we appreciate her honesty, her revelation makes us wonder if Laich is bothered by the fact that she had cold feet? 

Maybe this is one secret she should've kept to herself.

Despite all the wacky things about the pair, we can't deny that Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich are the epitome of what a blissful relationship should look like. Hough described the professional ice hockey player as a "wonderful guy" prior to their 2017 wedding in an interview with E! News, but Laich took a different route by detailing the downside of marrying the America's Got Talent judge.

"Sometimes she'll leave dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and I just absolutely love a clean kitchen," he told AskMen. That sounds sort of petty to us, especially since they could easily afford to hire a maid, right?!

During that same interview, Laich was quick to realize that a dirty kitchen really isn't a big deal, and if all he has to worry about in his marriage are some filthy dishes piling up in the sink, he's a "pretty lucky man." We agree!

Julianne Hough is so happy and in love with her hubby that she tends to jump ahead of herself and ponder what life with Brooks Laich will be like in future decades. It's likely she's not the only wife who daydreams about the future and all of the wonderful events that are in store. However, Hough actually vocalizes all of her marital hopes and dreams during her candid interviews with the media. "I think I wrote something about it recently, but I cannot wait to even imagine [and] to feel the kind of love I have for him in 20 years or 30. It's gonna be so deep..." she told Entertainment Tonight.

Granted, Hough just might be "the most excited person to be married ever!" — well, at least that's how her friends describe her. So for her to fixate on the future instead of just living in the moment is so Hough-like. Still, while it may be completely normal to her, it's definitely a bit strange to us.

Julianne Hough bared it all in an August 2019 piece for Women's Health. Exposing her tush wasn't the only thing on her agenda. She also shared another jaw-dropping fact about her marriage. 

Hough told the publication that in 2018, she began "connecting to the woman" inside, and she was worried her hubby, Brooks Laich, wouldn't vibe well with the updated version of herself that "doesn't need anything" as opposed to her former self who always "looked to him" to protect her. Discovering her "most authentic self" also prompted a very serious conversation. "I [told him], 'You know I'm not straight, right?' And he was like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I was like, 'I'm not. But I choose to be with you,'" she said.

She received kudos from her brother, Derek Hough, in the form of an Instagram post where he described her Women's Health article as "beautiful." And we applaud her for her bravery, as well. However, perhaps the conversation with Laich about her sexuality should've taken place pre-wedding? 

Either way, we really hope Laich is completely onboard with the new and forthright Julianne, and we wish the adorable lovebirds nothing but the best!