Julianne Hough Says Sex Therapy Changed Her Marriage

From Oprah Magazine

• Julianne Hough and Canadian hockey player Brooks Laich have been married for two years.

• The America's Got Talent judge visited Laich's How Men Think podcast to talk sex and intimacy in their relationship.

• Hough explains how she mapped her "erotic blueprint."

Julianne Hough just got extremely honest about how she improved her sex life with her husband, Brooks Laich, in the hopes that it will help other couples do the same.

The dancer and actress opened up on the July 8th episode of How Men Think, Laich's podcast with singer Gavin Degraw, stressing the vital importance of intimacy in maintaining a long-term relationship. Hough married Laich, a Canadian free-agent hockey player, in July 2017 after dating for four years.

According to Hough, an online sex therapy site helped the couple figure out what they needed to achieve intimacy. Laich defines intimacy as "sex, and making the other person's needs as important as mine," while Hough says it's about "complete and utter connection."

"'A lot of people just don't know what they want," Hough says. "My curiosity has saved my life and honestly saved our relationship many times, because we've been curious about like, 'Hey, something doesn't feel right. Instead of just accepting it for how it is, let's look into something'."

Hough's curiosity led her to Jaiya, a self-described "somatic sexologist" who is best known for her "erotic blueprint quiz." Hough took the quiz, urged Laich to take it too, and she basically can't recommend it enough.

You can take Jaiya's erotic blueprint quiz for yourself on her website.

"By almost learning each other's language, sort of like love languages, it was almost like a menu of how we could please each other sexually, but also intimately," Hough says, saying the couple found they needed different things to forge a connection with each other.

"There's something that's really special about two lovers who come together and there's an intimate connection and you're not having sex," Hough tells Laich and Degraw. "But when you combine the two? It's magic. And that's where I think in a lot of relationships, I think we miss that."

The couple say one secret to their success is making the bedroom a "no cellphone zone," and that their sex life definitely suffers when they break that rule. Laich also commends Hough for making sure to give him a "great big kiss" the moment she comes home, and "making sure intimacy stays present" through good communication.

"We have amazing discussions at home, but this was another discussion of learning, growth and understanding of each other," Laich told People about Hough's visit to his podcast. "This is an area in my life that I want to learn more, and my wife is vastly more evolved in this area. For her to come on and share… it was just so powerful.”

The Dancing With the Stars alum touted the podcast episode in a July 7th Instagram post, which doubled as a wedding anniversary tribute.

"I can’t think of a better way to spend our 2 year wedding anniversary than to talk about the intimate details of our relationship for the world to hear," Hough joked in a caption, underneath a photo of the two cuddling in bed sans clothes. "Love you babe!"

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