Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest’s Relationship Timeline: From Dating to Onscreen Reunions

Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest’s Relationship Timeline: From Dating to Onscreen Reunions

It’s hard for exes not to cross paths in Hollywood — just ask Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest. The Dancing With the Stars star, who is 13 years younger than the American Idol host, started dating Seacrest in 2010. “He is such an influential guy … and what if it didn’t work out? Our first date, I was so nervous that I just sat there and interviewed him with questions like, ‘Are you loyal?’ and ‘Are you close to your family?’” Hough recalled to InStyle in 2012. "I'm very in love, and it feels great. I feel like I'm more comfortable in my own skin. You see me instead of all the makeup and hair." One year later, however, the pair called it quits. A source told Us Weekly in 2013 that Hough “couldn’t handle” Seacrest’s work schedule anymore. “Work always, always came first [for Ryan],” the insider said at the time. While Hough later told Self magazine that her goal was “to be single for an entire year” following her split from Seacrest, she met Brooks Laich before the year was up. “I’m a relationship girl, and I feel so grateful for the ones I’ve been in. They’ve been excellent — I’ve been hurt but never angry — and they’ve helped me grow to be who I am today,” she said in February 2014. Hough and Laich went on to wed in July 2017. After she filed for divorce in November 2020, the Footloose star opened up about her past relationships, admitting (without naming Seacrest) via Instagram Live that it was hard to make friends with an older boyfriend. “[In 2013], I kind of got a little lost. … I was like, ‘I’m 24 and I don’t really know who Julianne is.’ … During that year, it was kind of my wild year of abandon and freedom and I realized that the pendulum swing went from one side to the extreme," Hough said in November 2020. "I was like, 'OK, there's got to be something in the middle where I can find fulfillment without having to be so dynamic and extreme.'" Over the years, Hough and Seacrest, who is dating model Aubrey Paige Petcosky, have made headlines for onscreen reunions. In May 2022, the performer appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan. Two months earlier, the Rock of Ages actress was a guest on On Air With Ryan Seacrest. “Jules, just to start, [my cohosts] Sisanie and Tanya have been asking me if this is awkward for me. And I said, ‘Not at all because we’re friends,’” Seacrest said on the radio in March 2022. Hough added, "We're friends, we chat.” Scroll through for a timeline of Hough and Seacrest’s relationship through the years:

Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest’s Relationship Timeline: From Dating to Onscreen Reunions

It’s hard for exes not to cross paths in Hollywood — just ask Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest. The Dancing With the Stars star, who is 13 years younger than the American Idol host, started dating Seacrest in 2010. “He is such an influential guy … and what if it didn’t work out? Our first date, I was so nervous that I just sat there and interviewed him with questions like, ‘Are you loyal?’ and ‘Are you close to your family?’” Hough recalled to InStyle in 2012. "I'm very in love, and it feels great. I feel like I'm more comfortable in my own skin. You see me instead of all the makeup and hair." One year later, however, the pair called it quits. A source told Us Weekly in 2013 that Hough “couldn’t handle” Seacrest’s work schedule anymore. “Work always, always came first [for Ryan],” the insider said at the time. While Hough later told Self magazine that her goal was “to be single for an entire year” following her split from Seacrest, she met Brooks Laich before the year was up. “I’m a relationship girl, and I feel so grateful for the ones I’ve been in. They’ve been excellent — I’ve been hurt but never angry — and they’ve helped me grow to be who I am today,” she said in February 2014. Hough and Laich went on to wed in July 2017. After she filed for divorce in November 2020, the Footloose star opened up about her past relationships, admitting (without naming Seacrest) via Instagram Live that it was hard to make friends with an older boyfriend. “[In 2013], I kind of got a little lost. … I was like, ‘I’m 24 and I don’t really know who Julianne is.’ … During that year, it was kind of my wild year of abandon and freedom and I realized that the pendulum swing went from one side to the extreme," Hough said in November 2020. "I was like, 'OK, there's got to be something in the middle where I can find fulfillment without having to be so dynamic and extreme.'" Over the years, Hough and Seacrest, who is dating model Aubrey Paige Petcosky, have made headlines for onscreen reunions. In May 2022, the performer appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan. Two months earlier, the Rock of Ages actress was a guest on On Air With Ryan Seacrest. “Jules, just to start, [my cohosts] Sisanie and Tanya have been asking me if this is awkward for me. And I said, ‘Not at all because we’re friends,’” Seacrest said on the radio in March 2022. Hough added, "We're friends, we chat.” Scroll through for a timeline of Hough and Seacrest’s relationship through the years:

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2010

"He's really romantic," Hough gushed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in November 2010. “He's not even in town, and I got in my car and there are flowers everywhere. For my birthday, same thing — flowers everywhere. I was almost embarrassed. You walk in [the hotel room] and you're like, 'Is this my room? I don't even know.' I'm kind of embarrassed."

The dancer added that she and the radio host were “very compatible,” gushing, “Everything's wonderful."

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2012

Hough told Glamour that Seacrest was her “first celebrity crush,” adding, “I feel pretty fortunate.”

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2013

Us confirmed in March 2013 that the pair were done. "Honestly, their schedules were too hectic," one source told Us at the time. "It just got to be too much. I think they both just sort of knew they couldn't do it anymore. The travel and lifestyle got to be too much. Who knows if this is just for now, but I think this is for good."

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2014

“Every relationship, there was nothing wrong or bad, but there was nothing right,” Hough told Redbook about their split. “I had one foot out because I didn’t want to get hurt. And I didn’t say what was on my mind because I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. I needed to be perfect.”

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2017

Seacrest spoke out on Live With Kelly and Ryan after Hough married Laich in July 2017.

“I guess there were a couple of weddings over the weekend … Julianne Hough from Dancing With the Stars, congratulations to Jules! Here’s a picture of Julianne and Brooks, her husband,” he said at the time. “She looks stunning and there’s also a photo of her father, Bruce. I know this family and they are terrific people … super talented, she is, so congratulations, Julianne! Happy to see you happy.”

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2020

Hough got candid about feeling “lost” after a “high-profile” split in 2013.

“I was on private planes and yachts and living in a very, very well-off house and my life was pretty different from where I grew up,” she said via Instagram Live in November 2020, without naming Seacrest. "I had just gotten out of that relationship because I wanted to create that for myself because I kind of felt like I didn't deserve it."

Credit: Courtesy of On Air with Ryan Seacrest/YouTube

2022

The twosome reunited on On-Air With Ryan Seacrest when Julianne and her brother, Derek Hough, promoted their ABC special Step Into … The Movies in March 2022.

“There is nothing uncomfortable about it, because we’ve remained friends,” Seacrest said at the time, while Julianne added that they treat each other with “respect and love and all those things.”

Credit: Courtesy of LIVE with Kelly and Ryan/Instagram

2022

Two months later, Hough was a guest on Live With Kelly and Ryan.

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2023

Julianne — who cofounded the wine label Fresh Vine Wine with Nina Dobrev — explained to Kelly Clarkson that Seacrest was the one who first "introduced [her] to wine."

“What was so interesting was because I didn’t drink, growing up LDS, it was usually associated with partying and getting drunk — but this was like, an education,” she gushed to the Kelly Clarkson Show host about her ex's teachings. “He taught me all the different — like, how to smell and how to taste and how to swirl the glass. It felt very cool! And then I was like, ‘How do I take what I learned and turn it into something good and share it with all of you?’”