Hough explained that she and the former NHL star dated long-distance for over three years but never lived together full-time before tying the knot.
On top of that, Hough said the former NHL star, 41, “had a really tough last few years of his career” before hanging up his skates in 2018.
Julianne Hough tearfully recounted what led to her divorce from Brooks Laich on the “Armchair Expert” podcast. juleshough/Instagram Hough — photographed in 2017 with brother Derek, his wife, Hayley Erbert, and Laich — said “everything started unraveling” that same year. Getty Images Laich, pictured in September 2009, went through a major career change the same year they got married. Getty Images
“He was injured and then he got traded before his team that he had been there for almost 12 years won the Stanley Cup,” she said while getting choked up. “It makes me want to cry because I feel for him so bad.”
“That was in 2017,” she added. “That was the year we got married and the year that everything started unraveling.”
The professional dancer, 36, asked for a separation in September 2019 and, just over a week later, both of her dogs, Lexi and Harley, died — only adding to her mounting grief.
“It was very tragic,” she said. “That was all kind of happening at the same time and it was an unraveling.”
The pair, photographed in 2020, began dating in 2014. GC Images They separated in 2019 but didn’t go public with their split until the following year. Getty Images
“Everything that I had ever known, that I had put in place for my control and my protection … I had this marriage to this guy who represented more of a father figure to me, and while he was changing, I was changing.”
The combination of losses made Hough feel like her life was completely “uprooted.”
“I [felt like] I literally blew up my entire life and I have nothing,” she said.
Although Hough agreed with host Dax Shepard that things could’ve worked out in “another time [or] another place,” she has “accepted” the way it ended.
Hough said she is at peace with the end of their relationship. Getty Images However, she admitted to having “regrets” about how things played out. WireImage
“I feel like our relationship and our marriage was exactly right, and the end of it is right, too,” she explained.
“We both have regrets that it didn’t work out, because I don’t think we had the maturity to come together,” she continued. “He was contracting while I was expanding. We just couldn’t find each other in that.”
Despite coming to terms with their split, Hough admitted she is still “sad” that it “didn’t work out” in the end.
“I’ve only dated great human beings,” she said. “He’s got the greatest heart that I could have ever had the privilege of being with.”
The professional dancer and the former hockey star finalized their split in 2022. Sara De Boer/startraksphoto.com Hough has not been in a serious relationship since their split. Getty Images
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