Julianne Hough & Brooks Laich’s Relationship Timeline: See Pics From Their Budding Romance To Heartbreaking Split

Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich were set up by a mutual friend back in 2013, and the world followed their fairytale romance, until they called it quits after 7 years together.

Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich have officially called it quits. The couple, who were married for three years and spent the final months of their relationship embroiled in rumors of a split, made the announcement on May 29. “We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate,” the Dancing With the Stars champion, 31, and professional hockey player, 36, said a joint statement to People. “We share an abundance of love and respect for one another and will continue to lead with our hearts from that place. We kindly request your compassion and respect for our privacy moving forward.” The pair have been quarantined apart during the coronavirus pandemic, which fueled much speculation about marital troubles.

It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago these two seemed SO in love. Their relationship began back in December 2013, when actor Teddy Sears invited his pal Brooks to visit him in Los Angeles. It was there that he introduced him to Julianne. Although the pair are major celebs in their own right: Brooks played for the Washington Nationals in the NHL, and Julianne is one of the most recognizable dancers on the planet, the pair had somehow never heard of each other. They hit it off immediately — talk about love at first sight!

Just a few months later, in February 2014, the pair were spotted together for the first time! They were seen hanging out together in Los Angeles, and looked incredibley loved up. Later in the year, Brooks opened up about the relationship for the first time. During an appearance on radio station 106.7 The Fan, he said Julianne was “a cool, cool gal. She’s just a sweetheart, very loving, very giving. She puts so much great out into the world. I’m a pretty lucky guy.” In August, Julianne also got very vulnerable about her love life.

She told Redbook, “Every [past] relationship, there was nothing wrong or bad, but there was nothing right. Now I’m not holding anything back because I’d rather get my heart broken than never know what it is to be completely, madly in love. If I had been this open in my last relationship, who knows?” After a year and a half of dating, Brooks popped the question in August 2015. They tied the knot in July 2017 in an outdoor ceremony in Idaho, where Julianne frequently spent her summers as a child with her family. “When I introduced Brooks to the lake, he fell in love with this special spot, and we knew this was where we wanted to raise our family and grow old together,” she told People at the time. “It just felt right to be married here.”

After a few blissful years of marriage, reports that the pair were on the rocks began to surface in early 2020. “They have been spending time apart but are not ready to share what’s going on between them,” an insider told E! News in January. “They don’t even really know what to call it. There’s a ton of love and emotion there and they are going through something very personal.” When the coronavirus pandemic hit, it became clear the pair were quarantined apart, as Brooks stayed in Idaho while Julianne was seen hanging out with her longtime friend Ben Barnes, 38, in Los Angeles. After much speculation, the adorable couple announced their split in May. Scroll through the gallery above to reminisce on better times between Julianne and Brooks!