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Few people can claim to have lived inside a television institution the way Julianne Hough<\/strong> has lived inside Dancing with the Stars. Over the course of two decades, she has worn nearly every hat the show has to offer \u2014 competitor, choreographer, guest judge, judge, and now co-host \u2014 evolving alongside a series that has itself grown into one of the longest-running and most-watched programs in American television history. As the show celebrates 20 years on air, Hough sat down to reflect on what that journey has meant, how her relationship with success has transformed, and why, after all this time, the Mirrorball trophy is no longer the point.<\/p>\n When asked which role on the show has taught her the most about herself, Hough didn\u2019t hesitate to frame her answer through the lens of personal seasons. \u201cI think they\u2019re all different seasons of life,\u201d she said. \u201cAs an 18-year-old coming on Dancing with the Stars, I was so green, so excited \u2014 I\u2019d never experienced anything like this before. And it was 20 years ago, when the show was pretty new and 20 million viewers were watching every single week before, you know, TikTok existed.\u201d That sudden immersion into America\u2019s living rooms left a mark. \u201cIt was like this overnight feeling of being inside everyone\u2019s living room for three months straight, and then going out into the public \u2014 it was sort of like all of a sudden I was a staple in people\u2019s homes.\u201d<\/p>\n But what she remembers most fondly about those early years wasn\u2019t the fame \u2014 it was the focus. \u201cBeing 18, being on the show, having all these new experiences, but almost being naive in an ignorance-is-bliss kind of way \u2014 I was able to just be present and be part of the craft, and learn about my partner and what was best for them. I didn\u2019t have the noise of the world yet. I was just so invested in what we were doing and creating.\u201d<\/p>\n As the seasons progressed and social media arrived, the shift into judging brought a new dimension of purpose. \u201cBeing a judge was really nice because I had more of an influence \u2014 not just for the one partner I had, but on potentially helping people grow every week on a larger scale, being able to critique and give notes for all of the contestants. So that was another season of my life where I felt like I was growing as more of a leader.\u201d And now, as host, the frame has widened even further. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve really stepped into this stage of: how can I be the greatest conduit to make other people shine? And hold the space \u2014 not just for the dancer or the celebrities, but for the dancers, the judges, the audience inside the ballroom and watching on TV \u2014 and really hold the energy of how special this show is as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n The arc, she says, has been one of expanding perspective. \u201cIt went from being an individual, to being a leader, to now it\u2019s really macro \u2014 this show is so much bigger than any one of us. And I\u2019m about to sound like ChatGPT right now \u2014 we are part of the tapestry of the entire show. It really has been such an honor to grow with the show and, after 20 years, have it be bigger than it\u2019s ever been, and feel like you\u2019ve had a piece of that.\u201d<\/p>\n What she understands now that she didn\u2019t at the beginning comes down to one word: family. \u201cAt the beginning, I felt like it was more self-interested \u2014 like, how can I win with my partner and be the best and win that Mirrorball trophy for the two of us? And I think now what I\u2019ve realized is it is such a family. We\u2019ve had the same set designer and executive producers, and Conrad Green, who hired me when I was 18, left the show and came back. It really is a family.\u201d For Hough, the show has become a model for something she believes the world at large could use more of. \u201cWe can have opposing views, we can compete against each other, but we can still support each other and want to see each other thrive. And I think our show represents that in such a beautiful way without pushing the agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n That evolution in perspective extends to how Hough thinks about success itself. Asked whether her definition has changed since winning her first Mirrorball trophy, she laughed. \u201cAbsolutely. And also, I still kind of don\u2019t know what the definition of success is. I think it changes based on what mental space I\u2019m in.\u201d As a competitor from childhood, winning was once the only metric that mattered. \u201cAs a kid, it was always about achieving the next big goal. Because I\u2019ve been a competitor my whole life, it was always about winning.\u201d But the older she\u2019s gotten, the more the process itself has become the reward. \u201cThere\u2019s the whole saying: success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. Because you can just be on a hamster wheel \u2014 what\u2019s next, what\u2019s next, achieve, achieve, get rewarded \u2014 but if there isn\u2019t a sense of fulfillment along the way, then you almost aren\u2019t present with the beauty and the magic that\u2019s happening in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s candid about what that looked like in practice. \u201cYou kind of look back and think, man, I achieved all these things, but did I share it with anyone? Was I present in that moment? Did I celebrate those special moments? Sometimes as a kid it was always just, keep the momentum going, don\u2019t lose steam, what\u2019s next? And I think now it\u2019s much more about the process, the people you do it with, and \u2014 is it making you feel alive, or is it propelling you into the future where you\u2019re not really in the moment?\u201d<\/p>\n Finding that fulfillment, she says, has required a deliberate slowing down. \u201cYou can find what\u2019s bad just as much as you can find what\u2019s good \u2014 it all depends on what you focus on.\u201d One concrete example: she chooses to show up to Monday rehearsals even when her hosting duties don\u2019t require it. \u201cThat\u2019s when you get to know the contestants and the pros. Those are the moments where you really see what they\u2019ve been going through all week. On that Monday, you get to relax and slow down and connect with people on a deeper level. And that has allowed me to be really grateful for the little moments in life that make up the big ones. The big moment for Dancing with the Stars is that we\u2019ve been on air for 20 years, but it\u2019s all the little moments that got us here.\u201d<\/p>\n That philosophy was forged, in part, through hardship. Hough is unflinching about the toll this industry can take. \u201cThis industry is not for the faint of heart. It is a master class in rejection and learning how to have a different perspective, because it can feel like a beating sometimes when you just get no after no after no \u2014 or \u2018we went in a different direction\u2019 \u2014 without giving you real clarity on anything. It can dim your light, and it can very much help you play small, because it compounds over time.\u201d<\/p>\n The lesson she\u2019s carried out of those valleys is one of reclaimed power. \u201cIf you let the outside world dictate how you feel, your success, your value, your worth, then you\u2019re never going to feel like you have your own power. And I\u2019ve let that happen a few times in my life, and I can really feel the difference.\u201d The antidote, she\u2019s found, isn\u2019t defiance \u2014 it\u2019s discernment. \u201cYou kind of have to pick your battles \u2014 what\u2019s worth it and what\u2019s not. Really focusing on what lights you up, what keeps you passionate and alive, and what allows you to continue growing into the best version of yourself as a person, as an artist, as a creator.\u201d<\/p>\n Music is one arena where that internal reckoning has played out quietly. When asked about a potential return following her single Transform, Hough was reflective. \u201cMusic has been a part of my life forever. And that\u2019s one of those moments where I think I lost a little bit of confidence \u2014 I would write, put something out, and then maybe it wasn\u2019t to the expectation I was hoping for.\u201d Rather than chase a career lane that didn\u2019t feel right, she\u2019s made peace with music as a private practice. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve realized about my music is that it\u2019s really about my own internal joy of expression. I think the actual art of me singing in my car with my friends and writing because it\u2019s my own personal brain dump \u2014 I think that\u2019s what actually gives me more joy than trying to make it part of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n That shift toward internal validation, she\u2019s clear, doesn\u2019t mean abandoning ambition. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that I don\u2019t want to go for the awards \u2014 because when you have a goal like that, you have clear direction and a container to move towards, and that gives you fuel and motivation. But that can\u2019t be the end result you\u2019re looking for.\u201d The goal posts, in other words, have moved \u2014 not inward toward complacency, but deeper toward meaning. \u201cBy all means, I still want to go for the Emmys, the Grammys, the Oscars, the Tonys \u2014 I\u2019m ready for an EGOT, let\u2019s go for it. But it\u2019s not about getting it. It\u2019s about what it takes to get there, and the joy and the fulfillment and the growth and the worthiness you carry when you are moving towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n On the acting side, it\u2019s her role in Safe Haven that has stayed with her most, and which has recently found a new generation of viewers. \u201cIt was the first film I did that wasn\u2019t a musical or a dance film like Footloose. This was a Nicholas Sparks novel, and I was able to really sink in as an actress and go deeper into the layers of some of the trauma that character had gone through.\u201d The experience, she says, followed a pattern she\u2019s come to recognize in her own creative life. \u201cArt imitates life \u2014 I always tend to attract whatever I\u2019m personally moving through in my life in whatever project I\u2019m doing. At that time, that specific character really taught me a lot about vulnerability and safety and being in a new environment and having to open up to new people.\u201d<\/p>\n What has made the role endure isn\u2019t just what it gave her, but what it gave audiences. \u201cTo this day, I get people telling me, \u2018That movie allowed me to leave an abusive relationship,\u2019 or, \u2018This activated a part of me that I\u2019ve never really been able to talk about, and I was able to move through it.\u2019 That character specifically did something for me, but it also allowed other people to be seen through it and really make a difference in their lives.\u201d It\u2019s a throughline she intends to carry forward. \u201cWhat I want to do now and for the rest of my time as an artist, a performer, an entertainer is to evoke some sort of connection with the audience, so that they can see themselves in the characters I play.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked finally what her professional life has given her personal life, Hough responded, \u201cLife experience. That actually kind of makes me want to cry.\u201d She grew up in Utah, in a conservative household, before the industry took her somewhere she never expected. \u201cThe first thing I got to do was, at 10 years old, move to London, where my eyes were opened up and exposed to an entirely different culture \u2014 one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. So it gave me curiosity.\u201d From there, the experiences only accumulated. \u201cSome of my first movies were with Cher and Stanley Tucci and Dolly Parton and Tom Cruise \u2014 people who have been in this industry for decades. To be in proximity with icons and legends \u2014 it\u2019s all about curiosity and wonder. And I feel like my life has been filled with both of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source awardsradar.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Few people can claim to have lived inside a television institution the way Julianne Hough has lived inside Dancing with the Stars. Over the course of two decades, she has worn nearly every hat the show has to offer \u2014 competitor, choreographer, guest judge, judge, and now co-host \u2014 evolving alongside a series that has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2465164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[41508,22914,32215,344311,21913],"class_list":["post-2465163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-dancing-with-the-stars","tag-interview","tag-interviews","tag-julianne-hough","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Interview-Julianne-Hough-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Legacy-Music.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2465165,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465163\/revisions\/2465165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2465164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n