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Julianne Hough Biography

The two-times winner of "Dancing With the Stars", the American version of "Strictly Come Dancing" has dance in her genes.

All four of her grandparents were dancers, older brother Derek is a three-times winner of the programme and is also Cheryl Cole's "close friend" and her parents met while on the ballroom dancing team in college at Idaho.

Julianne Hough's formal training began at the Centre Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, Utah and she began dancing competitively at 9-years-old. A year later her parents were getting divorced so Julianne and Derek were sent to London to live and study with their coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas. They were schooled alongside the Ballas's son Mark at the Italia Conti School.

When she was 15-years-old Hough was the youngest and only American to win both the Junior World Latin Championship and the International Latin Youth Championships at the Blackpool Dance Festival.

After five years in London she returned to America to live with her mother and attend the Las Vegas Academy, then she moved back to Utah to live with her father before setting up home alone in Los Angeles to concentrate on her career.

After the fourth season of "Dancing With the Stars" Hough postponed her wedding to former dancer Zach Wilson. There was speculation she had formed a relationship with her dance partner Apolo Anton Ohno, the Olympic Champion short track speed skater, with whom she had won the series. She denied he had been responsible for the break-up but she did date another of her partners, country music star Chuck Wicks and at one time there was speculation that they might get married.

She and Wicks failed to reach the final and she vowed she would not return for the next series as she wanted to concentrate on a music career. Her debut CD of country music reached number 1 on the Billboard country album chart and has sold over 320,000 copies.

She has been described as one of the most beautiful women and one of the best dancers on the planet. In 2007 she received a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Nomination for choreography.

The following year Hough was diagnosed with endometriosis, a common condition where tissue from the uterus lining grows outside the uterus and she had an appendectomy in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre on October 28th 2008.

Now fully recovered she has joined the cast of Christine Aguilera's new film "Burlesque" and critics have said she is a three-way threat to the entertainment industry now with her superb dancing, singing and acting.

Her music video for the song 'Is That So Wrong' was seen to be "kinda banned" in some quarters from being too explicit and too hot and raunchy. "Apparently I was taking off too many clothes as I was dancing across my bedroom".

Julianne Hough is currently dating American Idol host Ryan Seacrest who has been chasing her since she was 18-years-old. Before they started going out together she thought he was gay and not her type at all and there has been constant speculation in the press about his sexuality. But she did eventually agree to go on a date with him and realised how much she likes him.

• Back to blond hair at the 2011 Golden Globes.

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