Julianne Hough is opening up about her three older sisters choosing different paths in life from her and brother Derek Hough.
Julianne, 37, and Derek, 40, have three older siblings — Sharee, 48, Marabeth, 44, and Katherine, 43 — who were also entertainers, but their lives took them on “different paths,” according to the Dancing With the Stars cohost.
“My three older sisters, they all danced and sang and acted. We were in, like, a band. We were just always in it,” Julianne said on the Tuesday, September 9, episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast. “My grandparents met dancing, my parents met dancing. It’s in the blood.”
While Julianne and Derek found fame on Dancing With the Stars and other projects, their sisters found different callings. (Julianne and Derek were both professional dancers on the show before Julianne transitioned to cohost and Derek became a judge.)
“My oldest sister, she started in the Mormon way, so she got married at 19 and had six kids,” Julianne said. “My second sister moved to Nashville to be a country star. My third sister wanted to be an actress.”
Asked whether there was ever any jealousy over her and Derek’s Hollywood success, Julianne admitted, “We’ve had this conversation many times. There’s no jealousy, but there is, like, a sadness that maybe there wasn’t an opportunity for them to experience it.”
“They’re so happy. So, so, so happy. And look, they have great lives and they love their life. … We had an opportunity that they didn’t have and it’s hard,” she explained.
Julianne said she and Derek weren’t always open about their career achievements with their siblings, which caused them to grow “further and further apart.”
“Derek and I were always so close because we had shared experiences. Whereas [with our sisters], we never wanted to share because we were afraid to hurt someone’s feelings,” she explained.
This led to the older Hough siblings not feeling “included,” Julianne said, adding, “So, over the last few years, it’s been very much like, alright, if it hurts, it hurts, but at least we’re close and we’re moving through it vs. avoiding.”
Julianne said her older sisters are settled down with families and children of their own, something she admits she would like for herself. (Julianne finalized her divorce from former hockey player Brooks Laich in 2022. The pair separated after three years of marriage in 2020.)
“It’s all relative,” she said. “They have marriages and kids. I look at my third sister, for instance, and she has three beautiful daughters and she plans all these activities. I’m in awe of her. I’m like, ‘You’re such a good, present mom.’ I admire that so much. I’m like, ‘I want that,’ and she’s like, ‘I want that.’ It’s not that one thing is better than the other, but we all have these things we desire.”
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