Julianne Hough Graces Cover Of February Cosmopolitan, Talks Of Past Abuse and More
To think Julianne Hough was abused in any fashion just makes one heartsick!! 🙁 Below is a take from Cosmopolitan where she talks about being abused at 10 years old while she was in London learning to dance. She was also told she’d never amount to anything, etc.. I guess she showed them, eh?
“I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer,” she says. A precociously seductive smile became her public mask—and she rarely took it off. “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.”
With her parents an ocean away, Hough says the adults around her took advantage. “While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything,” she says. In what way or by whom exactly, she declines to say: “I’m a very forgiving person, and I don’t want to hurt anybody. What’s past is past.” A ripple of tension tightens a face that is always so relaxed and bright, like a sheet being pulled tight. It got worse, she says, “when I started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl.”
“You can kind of hear the quiver in my voice….” She pauses but only a beat. She’s going to nail this move, even if her ankle is broken and her feet blistered. “This is the farthest I’ve ever gotten into my London situation,” she says. “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.”
Also, did you know Julianne and boyfriend Ryan Seacrest were in Hurricane Sandy? You can read about it and more at Cosmopolitan. Also, here is some “behind the scenes” action of Julianne’s shoot….
You’ll be able to pick up this issue of Cosmopolitan on newsstands every where on Jan. 8th.
UPDATE: Julianne’s former dance school in London have distanced themselves from Julianne’s suggestions that she was physically and mentally abused at Cosmopolitan. You can read more at Express Showbiz.
Hough’s comments have prompted Academy bosses to release a statement, insisting media outlets suggesting the star was abused while studying there are wrong.
The release reads: “We feel this article has been extremely badly worded and if re-read, you will see that although it mentions our name, it does not say that any abuse took place here.
“We feel sure Julianne would herself be horrified to learn that she had caused her old school any embarrassment or harmed its good name.”
I love Julianne and I think she looks amazing in the cover, but I find this story kind weird. She already mention some things about Shirley being hard in the past, so even If this wasn’t about the ballas, it kind reflects in them. Derek has a great relationship with them, and based on facebook it seens like Shirley is really good friends the julianne’s mon too.
I just would like to now who besides Shirley and Corky had that much access and influence on her when she was 10?
It is hard to believe it was anybody else, it is as hard to believe it was them. Sad situation, really sad.
Don’t want to assume anything, but I think Julianne’s situation is similar to what those little girls on “Toddlers and Tiaras” go through… little girls sometimes being forced to do things they don’t want to do, looking and acting like a grown woman, their parents/coaches being hard on them. When I think about it, Julianne came from Mormon family life to a fast paced, competitive, latin/ballroom dancing lifestyle at such a young age.
I have heard that she had a hard time with Shirley because apparently Shirley “didn’t know how to raise a little girl” and Shirley was much more giving ( I don’t know if that’s the right word) to Mark & Derek. For example, Julianne would be the one who would have to do the household chores while the boy got guitar lessons (which is something Julianne wanted also).
The entire Hough family appear to still be close to Shirley ( don’t know about Corky)… Lots of pics of Marianne and Shirley whenever M visits & Papa Hough even sung Happy Birthday at Shirley’s 50th. He also calls Shirley’s mom every year on her bday. Soooo… if it were the Ballases, it seems all is forgiven. But this is a sad situation, nonetheless, and I wish it didn’t happen to Julianne. It sounds like all that verbal abuse motivated her to prove whoever told her these things wrong, also.
I agree, Guys. It’s so sad. And Elmari, I bet you are right for how it was a situation not much different from what the little girls suffer through on “Toddlers and Tiaras”. Wow and I knew Shirley was hard, but, was she “that” hard on Julianne? I hope and pray it wasn’t her. Whoever it was, you really have to admire how Julianne and her family were able to forgive.
Remember, Julianne and the boys went to the that performing arts school, so I assume there were many coaches, teachers etc…, involved with their upbringing. Young girls, be they dancers, figure skaters, gymnasts always seem to have a worse time than the young boys – or maybe we just hear about it more. :/ It’s a shame that to be world-class successful so many of them have to leave their homes at such a young age. I wish the world was different.
Me too! 🙁
I think there are probably issues with the boys as well, but because they’re boys it’s not classified the same way.
And I think I will leave it at that, for now.
Poor Julianne..it sounds like what she went through was really awful. It must’ve been sooo difficult to be living in London away from her mother. I can only wish her continued success; she sure proved wrong whoever told her she wouldn’t amount to anything!
It seems ironic that Cheryl Burke was abused too. I am not sure that the abuse was related to her early dance career.
I’ve always sensed tht something wasn’t quite right btw them (Shirley and Jules,) shirley never referred to julianne as her daughter and i got the feeling that they werent too fond of each other, but she loves Derek and considers him as her own flesh and blood… and Julianne’s given interviews where she says shirley was very tough on her and she doesn’t sound like she likes shirley very much either… Sad situation really 🙁 all this jmo of course
This is very sad to hear indeed. I guess since she was the only girl being groomed then by the Ballas couple to be a future superstar in the dancing world, there was much more pressure placed on her to look a certain way, esp when she hit puberty. There’s the constant make-up, hairstyling, spray tanning, wearing those sexy/revealing costumes, high heels, etc. I also think part of that pressure has to do with maintaining a certain weight thru strict dieting at such a young age. I remember one interview with julianne and helio, she mentioned that when she returned to the US at 15 yo, she “blew” up, which she clarified for helio, as she got “chunky”. She dyed her hair brown also during that period. Probably she was just so relieved then to be free from the strict lifestyle she was experiencing when she was still in London? JMHO, of course.
I am glad she was able to forgive the person who did this to her. She seems to be very happy now. Wishing her all the luck in her acting career. Though I still miss her dancing on the show.
You’d think that Julianne’s mother would have seen a performance or two in which Julianne was being as sensual as a 28 year old. She let that continue for how many years? I think it’s a little short-sighted to focus only on Shirley to whom Julianne was basically handed over.
The issue is she is indirectly accusing Mark Ballas’s parents Shirley and Corky Ballas. Who else would it be? She needs to be specific otherwise it defaults to them. If not the Ballas’s then who? Otherwise now Ballas’s will need to go public and refute this accusation. She could be sued. What is her definition of abuse? Why was Derek not abused? Why does Derek still spend vacations with his second mom Shirley in Aspen with Mark. Is she looking for publicity?
If you are training to be the best dancer does she consider this abuse? She should blame her parents not anybody else unless it was real abuse like physical or sexual.
Mental abuse is just as real an abuse as physical and sexual.
It’s fine if you don’t believe her , Rr, because I am sure here are a LOT of people out there who also don’t believe her, and are saying a lot worse than what you did. The timing of it? Well…..
This is something that she has hinted about for years, and recently, I read an interview about her character in Safe Haven. She apparently had been asked if she could relate to Katie, because she said she could relate to what happened to her, but she “didn’t want to talk about it”.
I think that it is incredibly difficult to go through a movie promotion for a character dealing with physical and mental abuse and have to keep telling people that you don’t want to talk about it….. It raises questions, and I’m sure that she went through a lot personally just to get to a point where she can admit publically that it happened…. And that’s simply what she did, the way I read what the magazine released.
We don’t need details…. I think she said enough to confirm what she had hinted at for years…
She has definitely hinted at problems in London for years….i think because this movie is about a girl that was abused she was forced to face the issues. In the Cosmo article they named the school (Italia Conti or whatever its called), not her training coaches although its hard not to suspect that the Ballas’s played a part. I always questioned the dynamic since Derek is so close to Shirley but it seems Julianne is not. Its only been recently that i have even seen interaction between Mark and Julianne (outside of DWTS)- i know its stupid to even mention this but its kinda odd to me that Jules doesn’t even follow mark on twitter and mark just started following Julianne recently- like in the past few months. Its just all the little things that kinda add up ya know? Who knows…but it is nice that Julianne seems to have moved on and is in a good place now. One thing that i have seen on a lot of websites though is negativity towards Jules for even mentioning her abuse…basically implying that she is talking about it to promote her movie- guess thats a whole additional convo! people can be so rude in their comments!
I was a victim of abuse for years; verbal, mental, and emotional, so I can speak to Julianne’s frame of mind about this. If she has been holding this inside herself for years, that’s the most personally damaging thing a victim can do. The best thing for her own mental health is to be talking about it and venting those feelings. And, if it looks like it’s the Ballas’s, it could very well be. But her parents should be taking responsibility as well. For all intents and purposes, they abandoned both Julianne and Derek. I know their intention was to give them the best training in the world so they could be world class dancers so they chose the Ballas’s. But, as parents, they should have overseen the health and well-being of their own children. Maybe they thought they were being observant and maybe Julianne was able to hide it well. Whatever the matter, the fact is that now she should be purging herself of that pain so she can be free to move forward. If her acting is her way of purging, then this movie is tailor made for her because all her pain will be apparent and she can face her demons.
Clearly child abuse follows us through our entire lives and it’s truly a shame that so many of our future stars have to be worked so hard and be put under such stressful training situations to get to the top. I don’t know how sometimes adults don’t realize how demeaning, demoralizing and humiliating they are when they’re working with children whose brains have not even fully developed yet. The fact is that too often adults expect so much from a child that it can almost break them and the damage isn’t recognized until later in their lives.
It sounds to me as if Julianne is trying to reconcile these matters and if this movie and the Cosmo article are the things that help her, maybe that’s why just now she’s opening up about it. What strikes me is that Shirley maintains a close relationship with Derek and Mark, while the relationship between Shirley and Julianne isn’t close at all. Often the mother/daughter relationship is more difficult and conflicting than the mother/son. It could be that Mark and Derek never knew the abuse Julianne was dealing with and being the son(s), they found Julianne’s allegations too hard to believe. Just sayin’…………
Thanks to @DWTSGossip, we’ve just added an update that makes speculation on this even more complex.
They showed a clip of a Robin Roberts interview with Julianne this morning on GMA and it highlighted something that has always puzzled me, and knowing that there are folks of the Mormon faith here on this board, maybe they’ll permit me to ask the question. And I ask with all respect and a true wish to understand. 🙂 We have seen it with Chelsie, including this past season where she was very reticent about wearing the sexy, midriff-baring costume for that trio number. SO many youngsters of the Mormon faith are involved in dance, especially ballroom, from what I have gleaned over the past years. How do those of deep Mormon faith reconcile the traditional skimpiness of the traditional costumes and the sexiness of many of the dances with their beliefs and traditions? I can see how this would be almost schizoid for a Mormon youngster and when I hear Julianne say that she was told that if she wasn’t successful, she’d have to go back home to Utah and be labelled a slut, well.. crude as it does sound, is there not an element of truth to it? And maybe it’s just me, but if a child’s faith is strong and they are working hard to follow the laws of their religion and are almost forced to put themselves on display as they do in the dancing, is that not a form of abuse too? How do devout Mormon parents reconcile it all? And please understand, I’m not speaking of the LDS fundamentalists at all, I’m talking about folks like the Houghs, the Hightowers, the Romneys, the Osmonds who are really the only Mormons I have to reference. I guess, to my way of thinking, it adds an extra layer of disfunction on the poor child and possibly makes them more susceptible to this type of abuse.
I truly hope I have not offended, I’m just trying to understand and not make judgements, especially judgements due ignorance.
Diane, I’m so sorry for what you have suffered through!xxx
RR, I see nothng wrong with Julianne talking on this. She’s handled it with nothing but class imo. More people need to speak out on abuse. They shouldn’t be made to feel they can’t talk about it.
Thanks Vogue. As old as I am, I’m only now able to begin to reconcile. It’s a very long and hard process and my thoughts and prayers go out to all abuse victims including Julianne.
Evaine, those are the same questions that I have in my mind. And to be blunt- for the children who are raised in such a strict, perfectionist, religious circumstances but are at the same time learning to succeed with their sexuality and emotions on display (like required in dancing) I do believe that it is abuse. And I solely blame the parents. I am not religious and to me even the strict religious upbringing is a form of abuse but when coupled with the foreign country and the expectations the young Houghs faced, it becomes even worse. JMHO.
Actually, I don’t think Julianne can be sued for what she has said because while YOU might think it defaults to Corky and Shirley, people would have a tough time proving that’s what Julianne meant. And suing her for stuff as vague as what she said would basically make people wonder why you were so defensive.
Your right Heidi – She could be referring to anyone, and without an actual name, nothing could be done about it.
I can’t believe Ryan and Julianne are still together? And without a ring on it yet….
Pretty sure the lack of a ring is on Julianne – I’ve read a couple times where she said she wasn’t ready yet. Which, actually, is normal for her age I think.
The connection with Ryan makes more sense in light of her sharing. IMO.
I agree, @Jay. Julianne seems to gravitate toward older men for her relationships. Maybe she’s still looking for Daddy, although she and Derek appear to have a good relationship with their parents.
Shame on Julianne’s performing arts school – they seem a lot more interested in their good name than Julianne. Who knows what Shirley and Corky are thinking.
I recently read an article about an Olympic gold medalist who was emotionally and sexually abused by her coach as a young teenager. She heard similar whispers as Julianne – she would not amount to anything if the abuser/coach was not there by her side. This young woman broke away and the abuser copped a plea since she was determined to testify in court against him. She used her pain and hatred as motivators to be a world and Olympic champion.
As for boys, it would not surprise me if what happened to Julianne has happened to young male dancers, as there are some adults who use their power to prey on the young people in their care. All one has to do is Google hockey coach and priets and teachers and Boy Scout leaders and Jerry Sandusky.
I’m sure the Ballases will speak up. If they don’t, it makes them look really guilty. I’m not saying it was them, though it may have been. I hope it wasn’t. I only know what I’ve learned from watching DWTS for a few years, but Shirley and Corky don’t seem like the type of people who would do that to a young girl who they were raising as a daughter. I’m sure if it was Shirley and/or Corky, Julianne isn’t calling them out on it because she doesn’t want to (is embarrass the right word?) them. She seems to have somewhat mended her relationship with them. And boy has she sure shown them how wrong they were about her becoming either nothing or a slut 🙂
She has def. hinted at troubles before heres a quote from when she was promoting rock of ages
Did anything serious happen to her? She makes a face. ‘I’d rather not say. But it was hard. I started missing my family more and I didn’t want to be in that world anymore. I was burnt out with dancing.” and another quote from a diff. interview
“The woman I lived with in London [Latin Ballroom champion Shirley Ballas] made me strong and not necessarily in the best way. She made me very guarded and she made me a fighter. I had to fight to hold onto myself. She was very tough on me. Honestly I went through things that I don’t think anyone should have to go through but if they hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have the character and the strength I have today.”
#kelly- eeeeesh not looking good for Shirley is it….
I don’t know that it is the child’s job to worry about “embarrassing” any adult with power over them to mistreat children in their care, whether it was knowingly intentional or just ignorance in raising a girl. No matter who it was, I don’t think the child owes the alleged abuser any deference at all but it shows Julianne’s maturity and wisdom imo to say yes, it was horrible and shouldn’t happen to anyone, but also say she wishes her/him/them no ill will. Whatever happened clearly left an indelible impression on her.
I do think abuse is a pretty serious allegation to put out there, but I also think she was in a very hard situation in London. I remember reading that the Ballases agreed to train Julianne and Derek after seeing them at a workshop in Utah. I also read somewhere that Mark was very keen to dance with Julianne, and even was held back in his training until she was able to be his partner. My take (and this is only my opinion) is this — I think that the Ballases recognized Julianne’s and Derek’s talents right away, and saw that Julianne was the kind of partner who could really help Mark achieve breakout success. I’m told by friends in the ballroom dance world that it’s not uncommon for talented (usually male) dancers to be sponsored by the families of female dancers hoping to find a good partner — and I think this was, more or less, the arrangement — the Ballases would coach Julianne and Derek for free, and they get a great partner for Mark.
So, Derek’s situation wasn’t the same as Julianne’s because he wasn’t under the kind of pressure she was under as Mark’s partner, and she must have been aware that she was expected to continue under this arrangement more or less indefinitely because she was indebted to the Ballases for taking her and Derek in in the first place. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were harder on Julianne because she was Mark’s partner, and, also because she, even now, doesn’t seem to have the passion for dance that Derek does, so he may have been more willing to take in the training while she just didn’t want to be there at some point which made them push harder. To add to that, having to be provocative as a preteen as the dance partner of the son of your teachers/parent-surrogates/sponsors (whom she also dated for some of that time), had to be very hard. So I could see her wanting to quit, and them being very harsh about what her future would be, in part because they thought they “made” her, and in part because without her as a partner Mark would suffer (and I don’t think he had much success after she left, no?)
She’d seemed friendly, though not BFF-y with Mark, and, to some extent, Corky, when he was on the show, but I think her real issue was with Shirley. That said, I can’t imagine the Ballases are too happy about this.