Julianne Hough Is 'So Freaking Proud' of Coming Out as 'Not Straight'

Dancer, singer, actor, and America's Got Talent judge Julianne Hough says coming out to her husband has helped her lead her best life.

In a Monday interview with People magazine, she says that she has come to embrace all of herself after opening up about being "not straight" in August. "I have never felt more like a woman in my life, and I've always been the girl next door, all-American sweetheart," she said. "That's a version and a part of me, but it's not all of who I am, and I didn't even know that about me."

"So the last few years have been about me picking up all parts of who I am," she added, "and the parts that I've suppressed over probably 25 years."

In a previous interview withWomen's Health, the multi-hyphenate performer said she was initially nervous about opening up to her husband, NHL player Brooks Laich. Hough recalled saying to her husband one day, " You know I'm not straight right?" "I'm sorry, what?'" he responded. However, the revelation wasn't a bad surprise. "I was like, 'I'm not. But I choose to be with you,'" she said.

"I think there's a safety with my husband now that I'm unpacking all of this," Hough added, saying they "have a more intimate relationship" as a result.

"There's no fear of voicing things that I've been afraid to admit or that I've had shame or guilt about because of what I've been told or how I was raised," she continued. "I was like, 'Is he going to love this version of me?' But the more I dropped into my most authentic self, the more attracted he was to me."

Not only have her marriage and self-image improved, but so has her career. Last week, she debuted her first song in nearly a decade, "Transform," on America's Got Talent. The lyrics are all about being true to who you really are. "I got a voice I want to scream," she says in the track. "I gotta own every part of me / All for the sake of love."

"This is the first time I feel like I'm not just trying to push it or perform it," she told People of the single. "It's like, no, this is just for me and this is my voice and my truth, and I'm so excited to just speak from that place."

Hough has been married to a man since 2017, but coming out was still the right decision for her. So often bi and queer women in relationships with men are told their sexuality isn't important or they're "not queer enough," and here's proof that's a lie. Hopefully this will help show other queer women in realtionships with men that they deserve to be proudly and openly queer, too.

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