Pop Culture

Julianne Hough Tells ‘Not Skinny But Not Fat’ Why Her Latest Egg Freezing Journey Was Her Most Powerful Yet

September 10, 2025

When Julianne Hough joins Amanda Hirsch on Not Skinny But Not Fat, you can’t help but feel inspired. The actress, dancer, and Dancing with the Stars host, who has lived much of her life in the spotlight, opens up about something deeply personal: her ongoing journey with egg freezing.

Hough, known for her candidness about health, relationships, and self-discovery, brings a unique perspective to the conversation. It’s not just the medical details that stand out, but the emotional and spiritual lens she uses to interpret her journey with egg freezing. She connects her body’s changes to years of healing, growth, and letting go—making her experience resonate far beyond the physical.

Why Julianne Hough started egg freezing early

Hough tells Hirsch that her egg-freezing journey began years ago, back when she was still competing as a professional dancer. “Actually, when I was on Dancing with the Stars, it was my fourth season,” she begins. “I was dancing with Cody Linley and on stage during a performance, I had a cyst burst. Oh yeah. And had to go to the ER, and they found out I had endometriosis.”

That moment shifted her perspective. She recalls doctors explaining that one of her ovaries wasn’t producing eggs, which made the idea of preserving fertility even more urgent. Looking back, she reflects, “I wish they had told me to freeze my eggs then, because I was 19 years old. But I didn’t, it wasn’t popular then.”

Why she kept going back for more rounds

Egg freezing is rarely a one-and-done process. Hough says that after her marriage to NHL player Brooks Laich ended in 2022, she decided to try again. “After we got divorced, I was like, I should probably do this again. And so I did it again last year,” she explains.

Still, it wasn’t just about the numbers. Hirsch asks why she would need multiple rounds, and Hough explains, “The probability when you get older and then the quality of egg, it changes,” she says. “And so for me, I wanted to [do it] more than once, especially if you don’t make an embryo right away, the more you have the better.”

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The surprising results of her third round

While she expected fewer eggs over time, Hough shares a very different outcome. “I got like three my first time, I got 21 my third one,” she reveals, mentioning that her second round gave her 10 eggs.

She credits more than just biology for the change, explaining how working through emotional trauma healed her in different ways. In her words, “As women we hold so much in our like womb area, that’s where our trauma holds our emotions, everything,” she says.

For Hough, egg freezing isn’t only a medical decision. It’s intertwined with her sense of healing and empowerment. She tells Hirsch that while science can explain part of the story, emotional release plays a role too: “When you’re tight and you’re holding and you’re holding like a lot of stuff from your past, sometimes, it happens.”

It’s not lost on her that these shifts came after years of therapy, body work, and learning how to let go. The outcome feels like validation that inner work matters just as much as outer action.

Looking ahead with hope

Even with her eggs safely stored, Hough’s hope for natural conception remains. “By the way, I would still love to get pregnant naturally if I can. But this is just like a safety thing.” Her optimism is a beacon of hope for those on similar journeys.

That balance between realism and optimism feels like the thread running through the whole conversation. She takes the steps she can but stays open to possibility—reminding listeners that fertility journeys are as much about peace of mind as they are about outcomes.

Hough’s willingness to talk about egg freezing in such a direct way makes the subject less intimidating and more accessible to women. It’s also a reminder that healing and growth don’t always look like what we expect.