AceShowbiz - Like most people in the LGBTQ+ community, Julianne Hough went through a self-discovery to find out her sexuality. Five years after coming out as "not straight," the pro dancer has admitted that she didn't know what she was attracted to when she first made the revelation to her then-husband Brooks Laich.

"Coming out is one of the most vulnerable and empowering things that you can do," Julianne said in the Tuesday, August 27 episode of the "Jamie Kern Lima Show" podcast. "I think for me, it was very much like, it's not about being straight or gay or bi or queer. It's more about, I think I'm just learning like what love is and I love people and I don't know what I'm attracted to, but I choose you."

The 36-year-old recalled, "I was starting to see people and seeing their hearts and seeing their beauty and their essence coming through in a way that I was like, wow, I love people and I don't know if it's a sexual attraction or a 'this' attraction, but I'm just seeing people. And that was such a beautiful revelation too."

In a 2019 interview with Women's Health, Julianne revealed that she told her then-husband Brooks, "You know I'm not straight, right?" She continued. "And he was like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I was like, 'I'm not. But I choose to be with you.' "

Julianne married Brooks in 2017, but filed for divorce in 2020. Their divorce was finalized in 2022. In the new conversation, the sister of Derek Hough told Jamie Kern Lima her past relationship with the hockey player was "the greatest thing that could have happened to me at that time."

"What I needed at that time was to reconnect to my 10-year-old self," she shared. "And what did I need at 10? I really needed safety, and almost, like, a father figure to come in and be that grounding force of stability. And so I think a lot of our dynamic was this little girl feeling and this stability and stable man to be there. He provided such a beautiful foundation for me to be a little girl."

The "Dancing with the Stars" co-host continued gushing over the positive impact she and her ex-husband had on each other, "We are very important, special people in each other’s live and we shared a really powerful season together. I know that I also brought a lot of things to his life that he shared with me also and so it has definitely felt like a mutual respect and love and period of growth for both of us."