She Was 4 Years Old. No One Did Anything. Now Julianne Hough Is Breaking Her Silence.
She’s one of the most recognizable faces on American television — all warm smiles, precision footwork, and radiant energy. But behind the spotlight, Julianne Hough carried a secret for decades that nobody around her ever addressed.
In August 2024, the Dancing with the Stars host sat down for an episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show and said something she had never said out loud in an interview before.
“My first experience was when I was about 4 years old,” she told the host. “By a neighbor in our cul-de-sac.”
She paused. “I’ve actually never said that out loud to anybody in an interview before.”

The Moment Nobody Talked About
Hough opened up publicly for the first time about experiencing sexual abuse as a preschooler at the hands of a neighbor. It wasn’t a revelation that came easily. She said it wasn’t until recent years — when she committed to doing deep personal healing work — that she even remembered the experience at age 4. nbcbayarea
She recalled coming home that day as a small child with her clothes inside out. Her mother “freaked out,” and the family’s response was to move. No formal action. No discussions. Just a new address.
“I guess my mom did do what she could,” Hough said, fighting back tears. “She just wanted to move and leave. She didn’t want to deal with it.”
She noted that growing up in Mormon culture — where projecting perfection was an unspoken rule — made the silence feel almost inevitable. “There was not a lot of repercussion for what had happened,” she said. “That was a very challenging thing to come to terms with, that nobody did anything.” nbcbayarea

Sent Across the Ocean at 10
Just six years later, her childhood was upended again — this time by her parents’ bitter divorce.
At 10 years old, Julianne was sent to London alongside her brother Derek to study at the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. They lived and trained with coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas and their son Mark, who would all later find fame on Dancing with the Stars. Wikipedia
She was brilliant, disciplined, and completely alone.
She navigated London’s subway by herself each morning, leaving at 6:45 a.m. She recalled getting off at the wrong station one of her first days, standing on a platform wondering where she was.
The pressure was relentless — and the abuse she faced there was worse than anything she had described before.
“While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2013. She said the abuse intensified as she got older, particularly as she began to develop physically. Fox News
She described being threatened that if she ever returned to the United States, she would “amount to nothing” and face consequences that were designed to terrify a child into staying put. Fox News
And then she said something that has stuck with audiences for over a decade.
“I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer. I was a tormented little kid who had to put on this sexy facade because that was my job and my life. But my heart was the same, and I was this innocent little girl. I wanted so much love.”

The Layers She Built to Survive
Hough reflected on how those early experiences immediately established a sense that “other people have the power.” In response, she said she built up protective layers around herself over the years — layers that, while necessary to survive, pulled her further from her authentic self. nbcbayarea
She didn’t call it weakness. She called it survival.
“There’s so many people that do what they need to do to survive,” she said. “And we should be so grateful for that part and that version of us.”
On top of the abuse, Hough also battled anxiety and depression during her youth, endured severe bullying when she returned to the U.S. for high school, and was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2008. She first began feeling symptoms at 15 but dismissed them for years, assuming the intense pain was a normal part of being a girl. The diagnosis came after she collapsed during a live Dancing with the Stars taping and was rushed to the emergency room. Fox News

What We Know

Julianne Hough, 37, disclosed for the first time in 2024 that she was sexually abused by a neighbor at age 4
Her family moved after her disclosure but took no formal action
At age 10, she was sent to London following her parents’ divorce to train at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
She disclosed mental and physical abuse during her London years to Cosmopolitan in 2013
She has not publicly identified who abused her in London
She was diagnosed with endometriosis at 20 after years of unaddressed symptoms
She was married to NHL player Brooks Laich from 2017 to 2022
During the breakdown of that marriage, she reconnected with her parents and began her deepest period of healing

Why This Matters Far Beyond Celebrity News
Julianne Hough’s story isn’t just about fame built on pain. It’s about how silence — enforced by culture, family, and fear — allows abuse to follow a person across years and continents.
Millions of American families recognize the dynamics she describes: the pressure to appear perfect, the adults who looked away, the child left to manage trauma alone. According to the CDC, approximately one in four girls in the U.S. experiences sexual abuse before the age of 18. Most never disclose it.
Hough summed up what she’s learned from years of painful, deliberate healing: “With vulnerability comes strength.” nbcbayarea
For a woman who spent her entire career projecting sunshine, that sentence carries everything.

Content note: This article discusses child sexual abuse and childhood trauma. If you or someone you know needs support, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or rainn.org.