In 2019, in a magazine interview, Julianne Hough suddenly revealed that she was, in her words, “not straight.” That was apparently what she told her husband Brooks Laich. At the time, Julianne and Brooks were a cute couple and I thought they were probably pretty white-bread Instagram-inspo. Turns out, that magazine interview was seemingly the first step in their journey to understand their own individual sexualities better, and months later, it definitely sounded like their marriage was struggling. I still don’t know exactly what happened between them, only that their separate interviews made it sound like they were taking time apart (but staying married). Then the pandemic happened. And now Brooks is isolating with a dog in Idaho while Julianne isolates by herself in LA.
Brooks Laich is living in isolation — and loving it. During the latest episode of his iHeartRadio podcast, How Men Think, the ice hockey player opened up about escaping to Idaho during the coronavirus pandemic. His wife Julianne Hough is still in Los Angeles, but Laich brought along the couple’s husky, Koda.
“Koda is awesome, man. I’m up in Idaho, I’m at my house in Idaho,” said Laich, 36. “I spend all day outside. I’m outside from like, 7:30 until 5 o’clock. I have 10-and-a-half acres here. Our property’s pretty big and I’ve just been doing a mass cleaning of it. Like, everything. Building some rock walls, chainsawing down some trees, clearing brush, you name it. I have some trees out here, some tall pine trees — the road that comes in here is actually called Tall Pines,” he added. “We have some probably 100-ft. trees.”
Koda couldn’t be happier with the environment, Laich said. “Koda’s been after moose … he was munching on a deer skull the other day,” he said. “There’s got to be some sort of wolf in him. It’s been great.”
And Laich himself said he’s actually “doing okay with the isolation. I’m about 15 minutes out of town. I have one neighbor that lives a couple hundred yards away, and then another neighbor that lives another couple hundred yards away, and that’s all that’s out here,” he said. “I see them when they walk their dogs a little bit, but don’t see them much. We’re practicing social distancing, but I’ve been good with the isolation. I think I’m an introvert by nature. I love having my dog — if it wasn’t for my dog, I’d probably be a little more antsy with the isolation.”
Let me just say, isolating with pets is pretty great. You don’t have to worry about a partner’s emotional needs or drama, and you can just focus on your own sh-t and your animals. Anyway, after Brooks talked about that on his podcast, Julianne had to chime in with how *she* is doing, because there is some subtle one-upmanship between them:
Julianne Hough is enjoying her time self-distancing amid coronavirus while her husband Brooks Laich does the same in Idaho. Hough, 31, opened up about her experience social distancing in California, telling Oprah Magazine‘s Arianna Davis, “I’m really enjoying this time where I can connect to what’s really important in my life.”
“Being on tour for three months and traveling and starting a business … it’s a lot. So to be able to be home, and stop and pause, and look inward, and connect back to myself has been glorious. I’ve been on my own,” Hough told Oprah Magazine. “My husband is in Idaho doing lots of yard work… and so we’re kind of doing our separate things right now. But it’s really been a magical time,” Hough continued. While Hough is soaking up the quality time she gets to spend with herself, she admitted to Oprah Magazine that she does “feel alone” while away from her husband and shared “I miss people a lot.”
“I think in my 30’s, I’ve always been around people, and I’m always trying to create and do a lot of things … but this is new, it’s a little different. I don’t feel lonely, but I definitely feel alone. I think there’s a big difference,” Hough told Oprah Magazine. “I feel alone … I miss people a lot, I want to hug them and talk to them, but I’m really enjoying this time where I can really connect to what’s really important in my life and look forward to when we get out of this,” Hough said, adding that she ponders the questions: “Who do I want to step into? Who do I want to arrive in this new world as?”
CB pointed out something I hadn’t seen: Julianne was spotted out in LA with the actor Ben Barnes. So… she hasn’t been in lockdown completely alone, huh? It sounds like Brooks and Julianne continue to examine whether they want to stay married and Brooks is coming down on the side of “I think I’ll be just fine if we split” and Julianne is having second thoughts? I don’t know. It’s not like I care that much at this point, and I’d be willing to bet that when all of this is over, Brooks is the one who files for divorce. We’ll see.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
A magical time huh?
And people say celebrities are out of touch.
Right?
Exactly. Talk about tone def
Me: I completely respect their right to privacy.
Also me: How far is Idaho from Toronto and can I convince a border guard thst its essential that I check up on Brooks?
Haha. I think you should take a road trip. He seems like a decent guy, satisfied with his dog and the outdoors. She seems like she’d do anything for attention. Send us a post card if you make it.
Comment below, I managed to double post, sorry
@ Ali…get yourself to Idaho girl!! He is GREAT guy. When he was w/The Caps he did so much for the metro area. Just a great person. She was really in to him while he was playing hockey but once he retired she didn’t see so interested. It’s when her “Miley” comments about choosing to be married came out. He deserves SO much better. She is cute but seems to be quite the twit. He should cut & run but he is such a good guy I see him sticking it out & she eventually screwing him over. But I’m biased, he truly is a great guy.
Maybe she liked the idea of a pro-athlete, and one that traveled for work a lot, rather than the guy himself.
It’s a shame, he does seem nice (and kinda hot!) and she seems kind of perpetually lost. If they aren’t happy together, maybe they should just truly split and move on.
That dog is beautiful!
That is a beautiful dog.
Reminds me of my childhood dog.
RIGHT? I don’t care much about either of these two (don’t hate or nothin’, just “meh”) but THAT DOGGO. such a happy looking pupper.
That dog is living his best life. So happy looking.
Side eyeing her and Ben Barnes if they’re not living together and still meeting up to hang out during lockdown.
I’ve read that Brooks is a really nice guy, and was completely not into the new age-y stuff Julianne is until they got married. They were so cringe for a bit, I’m kind of glad it’s not working out. No one can be that thirsty for so long.
That’s what I thought about him too . He also comes from traditional happy family but julianne comes from messed up family with her parents divorce and they practice mormon. She always goes after the trend and doesnt stick to anything. Her face is messed up too. She constantly change her hairstyle to hide her insecurities.
I don’t know either of their families, but as a general comment – just because a couple stays together doesn’t mean that their kids come from “a happy family”. Likewise, parents who divorce don’t necessarily mess up their kids.
Not to say that this is what you meant, but I find that messaging to be pretty common. There are lots of unhealthy couples that stay together, and their kids would probably be better off if they had separated.
Sometimes you just need to pull the trigger and get a divorce.
Neither one sounds like the brightest bulb but he sounds healthier and she sounds perennially confused. Also, “taking a break” from quarantine? Nuh uh, that’s not how it works.
She seems to be commenting on all his posts so Maybe it’s all fine and really is just their vibe or maybe he wants out and she’s trying to win him back. Or she messed up and trying to get him to forgive her. Love this game of assumptions and speculation!
That is an absolutely gorgeous dog and his property sounds idyllic for quarantining. Julianne has always come across as desperately seeking attention at all times. They don’t seem to be well matched at all.
Awesome dog. They’re my favorite.
I’ve only seen her once on Running Wild with Bear and at the time I liked her but gosh, she seems like a lot of work.
I teach Sociology on an adjunct basis and I’m teaching a Sociology of Marriage and Family class (online) right now. Whenever I teach this class I’m more open-minded about all sorts of relationships. 🙂 Maybe this non-traditional thing works for them? It’s possible this is a bad sign for a relatively new marriage, it’s possible they have an open marriage and this works for them.
I do side-eye her for not supporting Gabrielle Union during the America’s Got Talent situation where Gabrielle faced some good ol’ workplace racism. Perhaps Julianne could use this “magical time” to learn about being an ally.
Oh yeah I absolutely agree. She threw Union completely under the bus. She and AGT are canceled to me. She seems to become what or whoever will make he audience happy in the moment.
She reminds me of Miley Cyrus. She has no idea who she is or what she wants. She convinces herself she wants marriage and life long commitment, then when she has it she pushes it away and wants something new and different.
Just constant on-off energy. The grass must be greener on the other side type of person. Her comments frame it all as growth, but I think it’s just erraticism for the sake of it.
If he’s on board or of a similar nature, more power to ‘em. But it seems like he’s just being strung along as she figures out what she wants and who she is.
I’m still bothered by the fact that her two dogs died on the same day and she never said what happened.
I can’t find where she says anything official, but saw that “someone heard” that it may have been a coyote attack on them both. Just awful, if true.
I kind of get that vibe that they might have some sort of open marriage or polyamory going on. Like maybe that were having issues and she wanted to explore her sexuality more (if she was raised Morman it was probably repressed). People are doing all kinds of relationships these days. I guess it’s good they haven’t brought a baby into the mix (weren’t they doing IVF a while back?) until they get things figured out.
She strikes me as a bag full of crazy. Remember the black face?
i don’t know them too well but dang she is really pretty.
Maybe it’s because Brooks is my husband’s doppleganger, but I’m rooting for them.