All the Signs Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich Were Headed for a Split

Back in January, E! News confirmed that Julianne and Brooks were spending time apart. “They don’t even really know what to call it. There’s a ton of love and emotion there and they are going through something very personal,” a source shared at the time. “She’s been very private about this time in her life and is not making any kind of official announcement. She is honoring her work commitments, as is he, and it’s kept them apart. But things have definitely changed in their relationship.”

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Julianne stayed primarily in Los Angeles while Brooks quarantined in Idaho. “I always wanted to spend more time here. I bought this place in 2014 and I’ve never spent enough time here. I come here like a week a year and it’s my dream property,” Brooks shared on his iHeartRadio How Men Think podcast. “I wanted to spend more time here. The place also needed an overhaul. It really needed a cleaning.”

While the couple has commented on each other’s social media posts in recent months, Julianne and Brooks didn’t post any couples shots on their main Instagram feeds in 2020. 

During their marriage, both Julianne and Brooks opened up about exploring their sexualities. In fact, it was “a big part” of Brooks’ journey in 2020. “By that I don’t mean if I’m gay or straight,” he clarified on his How Men Think podcast. “I mean, like, in my sexual relationship. What is my sexuality? What am I craving, what are my desires and what are my wife’s? And how could we have this language to feed each other and get everything we want and be sexually expressed to the nth degree in everything.”

In 2020, Julianne was photographed on multiple occasions not wearing her wedding ring. And despite a few cryptic social media posts, the former America’s Got Talent judge did her best not to directly address her relationship status. 

“Julianne and Brooks haven’t had a conventional relationship for a while,” a source shared with E! News after learning about the split. “The couple has never aired their grievances or spoke negatively to their friends and family about each other.  Even when they isolated separately, they choose to deal with their relationship issues privately, until recently.” 

Back in April, Julianne was spotted enjoying an afternoon stroll with longtime friend Ben Barnes. While it was a completly innocent outing, it did raise some flags. “After photos surfaced of Julianne with Ben, friends and family began asking more questions to Brooks and Julianne,” a source shared with E! News. “And Brooks and Julianne’s conversations about separating became much more real.”