Julianne Hough has revealed the reason why she decided to pull the plug on her three-year relationship with Ryan Seacrest.
The dancer, 36, opened up about her ill-fated relationship with the “American Idol” host, 49, during Monday’s episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast with host Dax Shepard.
Hough, who dated Seacrest from 2010 to 2013, said that the pair kickstarted their romance just as she was beginning her rise to stardom, while Seacrest was already a well-established figure in the biz.
“The rug was swept up from underneath me, and I was just flying, and I was experiencing things that I didn’t even know existed,” she explained.
“But then I had this insecurity that I was like, I don’t ever want anybody to think that I’m with him for this reason.”
Shepard chimed in, saying that it would have been easy for people to assume “you were out there to try to get your own attention.”
Hough admitted that in the past, the “Wheel of Fortune” host had experiences with people “using him,” and she did not want people to think the same about her.
“I overcompensated, was malleable to fit into exactly what somebody needed me to be for them to be happy,” she said.
“And what I’ve realized over the years is I don’t know if I’ve ever truly been in love with someone, but I have loved the feeling of being loved. And so let me be what that needs to be so that I can be loved.”
“And then because I’m so filled with love from someone, of course I love you. I love everyone. I’ve been in love with everybody I’ve ever dated, but have I? I don’t wanna overanalyze it because every person I’ve also dated has been a very good person,” Hough added.
The “Dancing with the Stars” alum first met Seacrest when she appeared on his radio show with her then-boyfriend, Chuck Wicks.
However, the pair did not start dating until the summer of 2010.
Three years later, Hough split from the radio presenter, effectively ending their romance for good.
“I remember when I decided to break things off, I had a lot of these Brentwood moms and producers in that world that were like, ‘What are you doing?’” she said.
“And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ They’re like, ‘Your life is completely set up.’ And I was, like, ‘But I didn’t build it.’”
Hough went on to tie the knot with hockey player Brooks Laich in 2017. However, that romance was not to be and the pair filed for divorce in 2020. The exes finalized their divorce two years later.
Seacrest, for his part, has dated several women since his split from Hough over a decade ago.
Most recently, the TV presenter dated model Aubrey Paige for three years, before the duo ultimately called it quits in April.
Prior to that, Seacrest dated model Shayna Taylor, however the pair split in June 2020 after dating on and off for eight years.
Seacrest was also previously linked to model Renée Hall, as well as Hilary Cruz.
