Her biggest ally! Julianne Hough opened up about how her husband, Brooks Laich, helps her maintain independence.
“There is a line in my new song [‘Transform’] that says, ‘I have a voice. I wanna scream. I’ve got a choice. I’m choosing me,’” the America’s Got Talent judge, 31, told Us Weekly exclusively at iHeartRadio Music Festival on Friday, September 20. “I think that a lot of the times, we choose people, we choose things before we choose ourselves. This time, he was there to support me choosing me out of the sake of love.”
She went on to detail her willingness to share her struggles with Laich, 36. “I think it’s having the courage to go through the black hole versus trying to go around it or underneath it or trying to ignore it,” she continued. “I think that I’ve had friends, I’ve had love and I’ve had support, and it’s been really helpful, but it’s also been an internal journey that I had to do on my own.”
The former Dancing With the Stars judge previously vocalized several of her personal battles, including suffering from endometriosis and going through the IVF process. “There is a difference between being lonely and being alone,” she explained. “At the beginning, I felt very lonely, and then I realized, ‘Oh, no. I’m just alone in this. I have to go through it and then I’ll be able to come out. And then I can bring people back in with me, on my terms.’”
Laich, for his part, told Us exclusively on Friday that while he supports the actress individually, the couple also value their alone time. “My wife and I did long distance while I was playing hockey for three-and-a-half years. I was on the East coast, and she was living in L.A.,” he recalled. “So part of our journey now is just spending time together.”
He added: “We’re finally spending time alone together and we want that. We want that for our relationship. Kids can come. That’s great. But there is no sense in rushing to it. We want to have our time and our relationship to ourselves. And then when we are ready, progress to that.”
The NHL pro noted that his “purpose is to be a husband, to give and receive love,” and admitted there is joy in the unexpected aspects of their marriage.
“Kids are going to be important, but when? We don’t know. But that’s OK. That’s part of the journey,” he shared. “That’s the fun of a good relationship. You don’t need to know everything. We’ll get there when we get there.”
With reporting by Erica Grimaldo
