Julianne Hough’s childhood was far from picture-perfect. She began pursuing her dance dreams at a young age and moved to London when she was just 10 years old to study at the Italia Conti Academy of the Arts. There, she joined her brother and began studying dance, but little did she know the toll that living abroad would take on her. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, the “Dancing with the Stars” star opened up about the abuse she endured while on a five-year scholarship at the top-notch school.
“While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything,” she said, declining to provide more details. She mentioned that she often felt trapped while studying at the school, influenced by the adults who painted a depressing reality about her returning to the United States. “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,” she revealed.
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Hough stuck out the difficult period in her life studying abroad, but it forced her to grow up fast. “I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer,” she said. “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.”
