Derek Hough References Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough’s Past Romance

Derek Hough made a reference to Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough’s past relationship during a recent appearance on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.

Derek, 40, was a contestant on the game show hosted by Seacrest, 50, alongside fellow Dancing With the Stars costars Bruno Tonioli and Jenna Johnson. At one point during the game, Derek solved the puzzle phrase “Footloose and Fancy-Free,” sparking a conversation about the musical Footloose.

“You were in Footloose back in the day, weren’t you?” Seacrest asked the DWTS judge.

Derek stated that it was true and reflected on his time in the stage production before bringing up Julianne’s involvement in the 2011 remake.

“I was! I starred in Footloose in the West End for like, 400 shows,” Derek said. “And then my sister ended up being in the remake of the film.”

Seacrest, who dated Julianne, now 37, for three years, joked that he did “remember” that.

“Actually, fun fact,” Derek began to say before he registered Seacrest’s remark. “I know you remember Ryan!”

After a pregnant pause, Derek then gushed about his sister’s performance in the movie musical.

“OK … but she crushed it, she did great,” he said.

Seacrest agreed with Derek before bringing it back to the game show, saying, “She did great, you’re doing great.”

Julianne and Seacrest met in 2010 when the dancer appeared as a guest on his radio show. At the time, the Rock of Ages star was seeing then-boyfriend Chuck Wicks. Following their split, Julianne and Seacrest began dating.

In 2013, Julianne and Seacrest split. A source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time it was due to their schedules being “too hectic.”

“It just got to be too much. I think they both just sort of knew they couldn’t do it anymore,” the insider said. “The travel and lifestyle got to be too much.”

Despite the breakup, Julianne and Seacrest have remained friends over the years. In March 2022, Julianne appeared on Seacrest’s radio show, and the pair shared it wasn’t awkward for them to reunite from time to time.

“We’re friends! We chat [a lot],” Julianne said, adding that they treat each other with “respect and love and all those things.”

More than a decade after their split, Julianne opened up about what it was like for her to navigate a high-profile relationship at the start of her career.

“The rug was swept up from underneath me,” she said during an August 2024 appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “And I was just flying and I was experiencing things that I didn’t even know existed.”

Julianne added that she also didn’t want anyone to think she was using Seacrest’s fame and connections to get ahead.

“I had this insecurity that I was like, ‘I don’t ever want anybody to think that I’m with him for this reason,’” she reflected. “And so I then started playing smaller. I know that that was his experience in past situations and stuff, and so I again overcompensated, [I] was malleable to fit into exactly what somebody needed me to be for them to be happy.”