Julianne Hough Reflects On DWTS Athletes season and DWTS Past and Present

Former DWTS professional dancer/judge Julianne Hough was interviewed while in NYC, and asked to reflect on this season of DWTS, and you can read the entire article here.  While she admitted that she hadn’t yet had a chance to see the Finale, PopCulture did talk to her about DWTS present and past. “I actually really loved [pro Sasha Farber] and [former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding],” Hough told PopCulture. “I thought they were great. I just felt like she has such a willingness to do well and worked really hard, and I just love Sasha so much and how much effort he puts into his partners and stuff. So just from the outside, I was like, ‘Oh I hope they do well, I hope they make it to the finals and stuff.’”

It’s been 11 years since Julianne won her first season, with Apolo Ohno way back in Season 4. At the time, he was the youngest celebrity to ever do the show, AND he was also training as a speed skater, and I think he was the first celebrity to try to juggle both their career and their dancing. She was all of 18 years old, and still, I don’t know if there’s another professional dancer winner in ANY of the versions of the show, that’s been THAT young (however if I’m wrong, please correct me).

Anyone who has been watching DWTS since nearly the beginning knows, it’s been evolving since the beginning. And they also talked to Julianne about the differences between DWTS:The Early Years and DWTS:The Present Years.

“I can’t believe it’s been 11 years,” she told PopCulture, “That was such a fun time when I was on the show, because it was in the beginning when there wasn’t a lot of production, you weren’t allowed to use props, we didn’t have dancers behind us, it was just the two of us … and it was very technical.”

As to whether she prefers the more basic roots of the dancing show or where it is today, the Grease Live star saw the merit to each style.

“I like both,” she told PopCulture. I think that sometimes performance can outweigh the dancing, and that’s totally fine, but sometimes I feel like you just want to see it stripped down for what it is. I like both things and you know what, we have to keep moving with the times. If you’re not moving with the times you’re going to be left behind.”

She continued: But I think there’s also something to be said for holding onto the importance of why and getting back to basics … and that’s actually connecting people to their bodies so they feel like they know how to dance at the end of the show.”