Julianne Hough hot stills

Born: July 20, 1988, Sandy, Utah, United States

Height: 1.62 m

Siblings: Derek Hough, Katherine Hough, Marabeth Hough, Sharee Hough

Parents: Bruce Robert Hough, Mari Anne Hough

Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer, and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time professional champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She was nominated for Creative Arts Primetime Emmy in 2007 for outstanding choreography. Hough was signed to Mercury Nashville Records in December 2007. Her self-titled debut album was released May 20, 2008, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. It sold 67,000 copies its first week, and has sold over 320,000 total copies. On October 12, 2008, she released a holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection, which as of January 5, 2009, had sold 157,000 copies. Her first leading role was in the 2011 film remake of Footloose. She also starred in the 2013 drama film, Safe Haven.

Early life

Hough was born in Orem, Utah, the youngest of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family.Her parents are Marianne and Bruce Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party.Her brother, Derek Hough, is also a professional dancer. She also has three older sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, and Katherine.All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers.

Her formal training began at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, where she danced with Josh Murillo, among others, in Latin Ballroom; she began dancing competitively at nine. In 1999, when she was 10, her divorcing parents sent her and brother Derek to London to live and study with their coaches, Corky and Shirley Ballas. The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark. Following in Derek's footsteps, she joined him at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts when a slot opened up at that school. They received training in song, theatre, gymnastics and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet, and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") when Hough was 12, performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased in a UK television show. At 15, Julianne Hough became the youngest dancer, and only American, to win both Junior World Latin Champion and International Latin Youth Champion at the Blackpool Dance Festival. She left London that year, after having been "abused, mentally, physically, everything," she said, a situation that escalated "when I started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl. ... 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." After returning to the U.S. she attended the Las Vegas Academy and Alta High School