Julianne Hough opens up about telling her NHL husband: "I'm not straight"

Julianne Hough is being praised for opening up about a conversation she had with her husband, NHL player Brooks Laich. Hough said the conversation came after she went through a "massive transformation" and told him: "You know I'm not straight, right?"

Hough bared it all for Women's Health Magazine, posing nude for the cover of the September issue. In the interview, she explained what led to her revelation. 

After being diagnosed with endometriosis and talking to her doctor about her ability to have children, Hough decided to undergo in vitro fertilization. She said her husband was supportive during the ups and downs, but there was a moment "she feared he wouldn't vibe with her evolution." 

"I was connecting to the woman inside that doesn't need anything, versus the little girl that looked to him to protect me," Hough said. "I was like, 'Is he going to love this version of me?' But the more I dropped into my most authentic self, the more attracted he was to me. Now we have a more intimate relationship." 

The new intimacy allowed Hough to tell her husband something he never knew about her:  "I [told him], 'You know I'm not straight, right?'" she said. "And he was like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I was like, 'I'm not. But I choose to be with you.'" 

"I think there's a safety with my husband now that I'm unpacking all of this, and there's no fear of voicing things that I've been afraid to admit or that I've had shame or guilt about because of what I've been told or how I was raised," Hough said.

Her brother and fellow dancer Derek Hough shared the Women's Health cover on Instagram, writing a sweet message to his sister. "Proud of you [Julianne Hough]. A beautiful article about shedding the protective walls that can imprison us," he wrote.