Julianne Hough will be making her highly anticipated return to the ballroom on season 32 of Dancing With the Stars, although this time she’ll be stepping into hosting shoes as Alfonso Ribeiro’s co-host.
The former pro spoke about her return with Variety and revealed that it made complete sense for her to return and it felt like she was coming home to her family once more. “The door has always been open for me to join or come back in any capacity because Dancing with the Stars is my family,” she told the publication. “It’s where I feel the most myself and the most at home. The door was never, ever closed.”
Hough explained that there had been a lot of conversations about different ways she could return to the show, as she’s also been in the ballroom as a pro dancer and as a judge in the past. However, coming back as a host was “truly a full circle moment,” she said. Hough also shared that the pandemic gave her a fresh perspective on how she wanted to spend her time and with who. “There’s been so much hustle over the last 17 years of my career, and I’m so grateful for all of it and I’ve tried so many different things,” she revealed. “At the end of the day, personally, I am my happiest self when I’m surrounded by my family. This show is family.”
According to the publication, Hough will serve as the host in the skybox and will speak with the dancers after their performance to unpack it, while returning co-host and season 19 celebrity champion Ribeiro will be the host and emcee on the floor. The professional dancer’s return to the ballroom will mark her first time on DWTS since her stint as a full-time judge in season 24. Hough began her time on the show as a pro dancer during seasons 4-8, before appearing in several seasons as either a full-time or guest judge.
She won’t be the only Hough in the ballroom as her brother — Derek Hough — will be reprising his role as a full-time judge alongside Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba. “With this season specifically, we are all so close,” Julianne Hough spilled to Variety about the upcoming season. “We’ve been friends for over 10 years. It’s like the Friends cast. We’re going to be friends for the rest of our lives.” As for Ribeiro, he shared on Instagram that he was “so excited” to share the stage with Hough once she was announced as his co-host.