Former America’s Got Talent judge Julianne Hough, 31, and husband Brooks Laich are having marriage issues two and a half years after tying the knot in a romantic July of 2017 outdoor ceremony in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “They have been spending time apart but are not ready to share what’s going on between them,” an insider tells E! News. “They don’t even really know what to call it. There’s a ton of love and emotion there and they are going through something very personal.”
“She’s been very private about this time in her life and is not making any kind of official announcement,” their source adds. “She is honoring her work commitments, as is he, and it’s kept them apart. But things have definitely changed in their relationship.” Eagle eyed fans have noticed that Julianne has stopped wearing her wedding ring from Brooks. On Jan. 7, Brooks jetted out of L.A. to Phoenix, where he shared in his Instagram stories the next morning that he was doing outdoor backyard yoga alongside his mother, with no sign of Julianne around.
On Jan. 7, Brooks shared an Instagram post where he said he was looking forward to stepping into a “new chapter” of his life. He wrote, “In 2020 I look forward to releasing old identities, and stepping into a new chapter in my life. I find myself wanting to officially say the words ‘I retire’ from professional hockey, instead of vehemently resisting it as I have been for the last 2 years. I feel a new stage of life calling me, and though I don’t exactly know what it is yet, it feels right, and exciting!” Brooks, 36, was a professional hockey player for 15 years beginning in 2003. He retired in 2018 after finishing his career with the L.A. Kings. Jules called his post “So beautiful ❤️.”
Julianne raised eyebrows when she told Women’s Health in August that she revealed to her husband that she’s “not straight.” “I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry what?’” the pro dancer explained. “I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you.’“ She dropped the news on Brooks just four months into their marriage, but said it only made them more “intimate.” “I think there’s a safety with my husband now that I’m unpacking all of this,” she continued. “And 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.”
While Julianne was once a constant presence on Brooks’ Instagram page, the last photo he shared of them together was on Nov. 28, 2019 for Thanksgiving. The same goes for Jules, who used to post so many cuddly pics with her man, but the last time he appeared on her IG account was on Aug. 5, 2019 and it was a photo of the couple announcing an African safari giveaway contest.