Early life

Hough was born in Orem, Utah, the youngest of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family. Her parents are Marianne and Bruce Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Her brother, Derek Hough, is also a professional dancer. She also has three older sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, and Katherine. All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers. She is also a second cousin of musicians Riker, Rydel, Rocky and Ross Lynch from R5.

Hough's formal training began at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, where she danced with Josh Murillo, among others, in Latin Ballroom; she began dancing competitively at nine. In 1999, when she was 10, her divorcing parents sent her and brother Derek to London to live and study with their coaches, Corky and Shirley Ballas. The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark. Following in Derek's footsteps, she joined him at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts when a slot opened up at that school. They received training in song, theatre, gymnastics and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet, and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") when Hough was 12, performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased in a UK television show. At 15, Julianne Hough became the youngest dancer, and only American, to win both Junior World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion at the Blackpool Dance Festival. She left London that year, after having been "abused, mentally, physically, everything," she said, a situation that escalated "when I started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl. ... I was told if I ever went back to the United States, three things were going to happen. One: I was going to amount to nothing. Two: I was going to work at Whataburger. And three: I was going to end up a slut. So, it was like, I can't go back. I have to be this person." After returning to the U.S., she attended the Las Vegas Academy and Alta High School.

Career

Dancing

Hough was one of the Million Dollar Dancers in the 2006 ABC game show called Show Me the Money. She won the season four of the U.S. edition of Dancing with the Stars with her partner Olympic gold medal-winning speed skater Apolo Ohno, making Hough the youngest professional dancer to win on the program. On November 27, 2007, Hough and her partner, three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves, became the winners of season five. Hough returned for season six with radio host/comedian Adam Carolla, but they were eliminated in week four. In July 2008, Hough was nominated at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in the category of "Outstanding Choreography" for her Mambo "Para Los Rumberos" (performed with partner Hélio Castroneves) on Dancing with the Stars.

On August 25, 2008, the cast of season seven was announced, and Hough was partnered with Hannah Montana actor Cody Linley. She felt abdominal pains during their jitterbug performance on October 27, 2008 and was immediately rushed to a hospital following the encore performance. She subsequently had surgery to have her appendix removed, causing her to miss several performances; Edyta Śliwińska stood in for her. Hough returned to the show, although the pair were ultimately eliminated in the Semifinals Competition. She appeared on the November 12 results show dancing the jive to "Great Balls of Fire" with her brother for the "Design-A-Dance" contest.

On November 20, 2008, Hough told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show she would not be returning to Dancing with the Stars, for the foreseeable future, in order to further her music career. However, she did return for season eight, partnering with boyfriend at the time, country singer Chuck Wicks. They were voted off in week eight of the competition and came in sixth place. On October 11, 2011, Hough returned to Dancing with the Stars and danced with her Footloose co-star Kenny Wormald twice, as well as her brother. She returned again on May 15, 2012 in a dance performance to promote her film Rock of Ages. On October 7, 2013, she was guest judge in place of Len Goodman, which was the first time a former pro dancer came back to judge. On September 2014, she returned as the show's permanent fourth judge.

Music

Hough's first country music single "Will You Dance With Me" was released to iTunes and Wal-Mart in May 2007 to raise money for the American Red Cross. The song placed at No. 100 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She later signed with Universal Music Group Nashville's Mercury Nashville division.

Her self-titled debut album was recorded in Nashville and produced by David Malloy, who has worked with Reba McEntire, Eddie Rabbitt, among others. Hough's album, which met with mixed reviews, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart on May 31, and also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Hough's second single, and the first to be released to country radio, was "That Song in My Head".

Hough joined Brad Paisley's 2008 Tour, along with Jewel and Chuck Wicks. Hough, Paisley and Willie Nelson appeared in the video for the Snoop Dogg song "My Medicine". Hough appeared in a Juicy Fruit commercial in the fall of 2008, and released an EP of Christmas music called Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection. Hough performed her second single "My Hallelujah Song" on Dancing With the Stars on November 18, 2008, with her brother, Derek Hough, Mark Ballas and Lacey Schwimmer dancing.

Hough, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson, and Kellie Pickler announced the 2009 Academy of Country Music Award nominees in February 2009. Hough was nominated for the Top New Female Vocalist award, a fan voted award, which she subsequently won. Hough won the Top New Artist award at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 5, 2009. Hough did not get the chance to write on her first record because the whole process was so quick. For her next record, she plans to write more. Hough released a single, "Is That So Wrong", to country radio on June 21, 2010. It was intended as the lead single for her second album, Wildfire, however the album was never released. In June 2012, Hough told AOL's The Boot that her second album was "completely done" and that she was initially "really, really looking forward to the record." However, she also stated that, due to the underperforming lead single and having "a lot of momentum" in her film career, there are no plans to release Wildfire. She does intend to resume focusing on her music career at some point, though: "I feel like when I have the time to focus on it, and when I feel like it is the right time, my music," she said.

Acting

Hough's first acting role was in 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's bestselling novel. She appeared in an uncredited role as a "Hogwarts schoolgirl". Hough appears in the 2010 musical Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. In the film, which chronicles a small-town girl (Aguilera) who finds success at a Los Angeles burlesque club, Hough plays a dancer named Georgia.

Hough's first leading role was as Ariel Moore in the 2011 remake of the Paramount film Footloose, opposite Kenny Wormald as Ren McCormack. Filming began in September 2010. The film was released on October 14, 2011. Hough played the role of Sherrie Christian in the 2012 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, alongside Tom Cruise and Mary J. Blige. In 2012, she filmed her starring role opposite Josh Duhamel in the romantic drama Safe Haven, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, which was released on February 14, 2013. Hough also starred in the comedy-drama Paradise as Lamb Mannerhelm, which was released on October 18, 2013. She played alongside Russell Brand.

Hough portrayed the role of Sandy Young for Fox's live television presentation of the musical Grease on January 31, 2016.

Personal life

Hough dated fellow country singer Chuck Wicks from August 2008 to November 2009; when the two had a mutual break-up, it inspired Hough's song "Is That So Wrong". Hough dated Ryan Seacrest from April 2010 to March 2013. In February 2014, it was revealed that she began dating NHL professional hockey player Brooks Laich, of the Toronto Maple Leafs, formerly the Washington Capitals, in December 2013. The couple announced their engagement on August 18, 2015.

Dancing with the Stars performances

Season	Partner	Place
4	Apolo Anton Ohno	1st
5	Hélio Castroneves	1st
6	Adam Carolla	9th
7	Cody Linley	4th
8	Chuck Wicks	6th

With Apolo Anton Ohno

(average 27.53)

Week	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Cha cha/ "Let's Hear It for the Boy"	7	7	7	No elimination
2	Quickstep/ "Two Hearts"	8	9	9	Safe
3	Jive/ "You Never Can Tell"	7	8	8	Safe
4	Waltz/ "If You Don't Know Me by Now"	9	8	9	Safe
5	Samba/ "I Like to Move It"	10	10	10	Safe
6	Rumba/ "Cool" Swing/"Rock This Town"	9 N/A	9 N/A	10 N/A	Safe
7	Foxtrot/ "Steppin' Out with My Baby" Mambo/ "Dr. Beat"	9 9	8 9	9 10	Safe
8	Tango/ "Jessie's Girl" Paso doble/ "Carnaval de Paris"	10 10	8 10	10 10	Safe
9	Quickstep/ "Mr. Pinstripe Suit" Cha cha/ "Push It"	10 10	10 9	10 10	Bottom 2
10	Rumba/ "Midnight Train to Georgia" Freestyle/ "Bust a Move" Paso doble/ "Carnaval de Paris"	9 10 10	9 10 10	10 10 10	Won

With Hélio Castroneves

(average 27.13)

Week	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Foxtrot/ "Bewitched theme"	8	9	8	Safe
2	Mambo/ "Para Los Rumberos"	9	9	9	Safe
3	Jive/ "Kids in America"	8	8	8	Safe
4	Viennese Waltz/ "Iris"	9	9	9	Safe
5	Rumba/ "Apologize"	8	7	8	Safe
6	Cha cha/ "Get Up Offa That Thing" Rock and Roll/ "Rockin' Robin"	9 N/A	10 N/A	9 N/A	Safe
7	Tango/ "Jean Genie" Samba/ Candela	9 9	8 9	8 9	Safe
8	Paso doble/ "Amparito Roco" Quickstep/ "Hey Pachuco"	9 10	9 10	9 10	Safe
9	Foxtrot/ "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" Cha cha "Love Rollercoaster"	10 10	10 10	10 10	Last to be called safe
10	Jive "Let's Twist Again" Freestyle/ "Land of a Thousand Dances" Quickstep/ "Hey Pachuco"	8 9 10	8 10 10	9 10 10	Won

With Adam Carolla

(average 18.5)

Week	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Foxtrot/ "Mellow Yellow"	5	5	5	N/A
2	Mambo/ "House of Bamboo"	6	7	6	Safe
3	Tango/ "I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango"	7	7	7	Safe
4	Paso doble/ "Plaza of Execution"	6	7	6	Eliminated

With Cody Linley

(average 23.56)

Week	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Cha cha/ "Tilt Ya Head Back"	6	6	6	Safe
1	Quickstep/ "I Want You to Want Me"	8	7	8	Safe
2	Rumba/ "Bleeding Love"	7	7	7	Safe
3	Jive/ "Call Me the Breeze"	7	7	7	Safe
4	Tango/ "Bohemian Like You"	7	8	8	Safe
5	Jitterbug/ "Big Time Operator"	10	9	9	Safe
6	Samba/ "Whine Up" Old school hip hop/ "It Takes Two"	8 No	8* scores	7 given	Safe
7	Viennese Waltz/ "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" Team cha-cha-cha/ "Mercy"	8 6	7 7	7 7	Last to be called safe
8	Foxtrot/ "Call Me Irresponsible" Mambo/ "My Way"	8 8	8 8	8 8	Last to be called safe
9	Paso doble/ "Le Disko" Salsa/ "Juventud del Presente"	8 8	7 8	7 8	Eliminated (4th place)

• Weeks 7 and 8, Julianne was recovering from surgery. Linley danced with Edyta Śliwińska during this time.
• Score was awarded by stand in judge Michael Flatley.

With Chuck Wicks

(average 23.22)

Week	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Waltz/"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"	6	7	7	No elimination
2	Salsa/"Say Hey (I Love You)"	6	7	7	Safe
3	Foxtrot/"All I Want To Do"	8	7	8	Safe
4	Lindy Hop/"Summertime Blues"	8	7	7	Safe
5	Viennese Waltz/"Feels Like Today"	7	8	8	Safe
6	Rumba/"She Will Be Loved"	8	7	8	Safe
7	Samba/"Balla, Balla" 1960s group dance/"The Clapping Song"	9 No	9 scores	9 given	Safe
8	Cha cha/ "Outta Love" Team Mambo/ "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"	9 8	9 8	8 9	Eliminated

Discography

Albums / EPs

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US	US Holiday
Julianne Hough	Release date: May 20, 2008 Label: Mercury Nashville	1	3
Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection (EP)	Release date: October 12, 2008 Label: Mercury Nashville	2	24	2

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Album
		US Country	US	US Pop
2007	"Will You Dance With Me"	—	114	100	Non-album song
2008	"That Song in My Head"	18	88	84	Julianne Hough
	"My Hallelujah Song"	44	—	—
2010	"Is That So Wrong"	—	—	—	Wildfire
"—" denotes releases did not chart

Guest singles

Year	Single	Artist	Peak chart positions							Album
			US	CAN	NOR	IRE	NZ	SWE	SPA
2010	"We Are the World 25 for Haiti"	Artists for Haiti	2	7	1	9	8	5	15	Non-album song

Soundtrack appearances

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US
Rock of Ages	Release date: June 5, 2012 Label: WaterTower Music	5
Grease Live! (Music from the Television Event)	Release date: January 31, 2016 Label: Paramount Pictures	37

Music videos

Year	Song	Director
2008	"That Song in My Head"	Trey Fanjoy
	"My Hallelujah Song"	Wayne Isham
2010	"We Are the World 25 for Haiti"	Paul Haggis
	"Is That So Wrong"	Adam Shankman

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Hogwarts schoolgirl	Uncredited
2010	Burlesque	Georgia
2011	Footloose	Ariel Moore
2012	Rock of Ages	Sherrie Christian
2013	Safe Haven	Katie Feldman / Erin Tierney
2013	Paradise	Lamb Mannerhelm
2015	Curve	Mallory
2016	Dirty Grandpa	Meredith Goldstein

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007-09 2011-13 2014-15	Dancing with the Stars	Dancer/choreographer Guest dancer/judge Judge	Seasons 4-8 Seasons 13, 14, 17, 18 Season 19-21
2011	Keeping Up with the Kardashians	Herself	Episode: "Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event - Part 2"
2012	Punk'd	Herself	Episode: "Kellan Lutz"
2014	Nashville	Herself	Episode: "I'm Coming Home to You"
2015	Lip Sync Battle	Herself	Episode 8: "Julianne Hough vs Derek Hough"
2016	Grease: Live	Sandy	Lead role

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2008	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography	Dancing with the Stars	Nominated
2009	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography	Dancing with the Stars	Nominated
2011	ShoWest	Female Rising Star of 2011	N/A	Won
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Movie: Choice Breakout	Rock of Ages	Nominated
		Movie: Choice Chemistry	Rock of Ages	Nominated
2015	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography (tie)	Dancing with the Stars	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]