Juliane Hough is ready to bare it all — in more than one way.
In the new "Naked Strength" issue of Women’s Health magazine, the dancer poses nude and gets vulnerable with the magazine, revealing intimate details about her marriage, sexuality and more.
When she decided to pose nude, the 31-year-old had one mantra in mind: Go big, or go home.
“I didn’t want to do a demure shoot where I was trying to cover my body,” she says. “I wanted to do something where I was free.”
As a dancer, Hough has often had to change in front of others in between sets, but she said this photo shoot definitely gave her a new outlook on nudity. “Now I’m walking around naked all the time, and I love it!” she said.
Embracing her body hasn't always come easily for the "America’s Got Talent" judge and, like many of us, she's struggled with body image at times. For instance, when Hough was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2008, she experienced a particularly difficult period of insecurity.
All that changed when she learned to accept her condition, though: “I feel I’ve created a more peaceful and harmonious relationship with it.”
Infertility can often be an issue for many women with endometriosis, and Hough recently revealed that she and her husband, Brooks Laich, have started in vitro fertilization. Throughout this time, the dancer has gained a new sense of strength and self-assurance that she was nervous her husband would misinterpret.
“I was connecting to the woman inside that doesn’t need anything, versus the little girl that looked to him to protect me,” she 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 31-year-old even found the courage to share a pretty big secret.
“I (told him), ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you,’” she said.
Now that they've connected on such a deep level, the couple feels ready to take on the world together.
“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," she said.
The "Dancing With the Stars" alum is now focused on a new dance workout method she's created called Kingry, and hopes it will help others transform their lives. In the meantime, Hough is just ready for the ride ahead, and knows she'll inevitably evolve over time.
“I’m going to shift for the rest of my life,” she says. “I’m not like, ‘Oh, I got it.’ But I’m trusting myself now, and when I’m totally connected to me, I feel full. I want others to see that in themselves too," she said.