‘Dancing With the Stars’ Alum Julianne Hough Sparks Dating Rumors With ‘Westworld’ Star Ben Barnes

Former Dancing With the Stars dancer Julianne Hough sparked fresh dating rumors with actor Ben Barnes on Thursday when they were spotted out together in Los Angeles. Hough was previously married to former hockey player Brooks Laich for three years before filing for divorce in November. Barnes is a British actor best known for playing Logan in HBO’s Westworld and Billy Russo in Netflix’s The Punisher. His next show, Shadow and Bone, debuts on Netflix in April.

Hough, 32, and Barnes, 39, were seen walking outside Salt & Straw in Los Angeles, enjoying ice cream together. A witness told E! News the two debated about how would pay for their ice cream before Barnes eventually agreed to. They laughed as they walked to their car in the parking lot.

The witness said the two seemed “very friendly” and “very friendly” during the outing. Another source told E! News Barnes and Hough “have been friends for eight years” and there is “nothing more to it.” However, Barnes did carry a brown bag with a personalized message reading, “You’ve made my day. Proud of you,” the witness said. It was not clear if the bag was really for Hough though.

Hough and Barnes have been seen together in the past, most recently in Los Angeles in April 2020. The following month, Hough and Laich announced their separation. There were rumors that the couple was getting back together, but those were quashed when Hough filed for divorce in November. “We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate,” Hough and Laich said in a statement in May. “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.”

Hough has not talked about the breakup. Earlier this month, a source told Entertainment Tonight she was “taking a break” from dating “She’s not interested in anyone,” the source said at the time, adding that she is not in contact with her ex. The source told the outlet that Hough felt “like she hasn’t had a chance to live her life to the fullest.” She needed “even more time to discover herself,” the source said.

As for Laich though, he admitted to crying “all the time” during an episode of the How Men Think podcast in November. “I’ve learned how to honor emotions at the moment and let them come up and through me and out of me, and a lot of times that’s through crying. And you know me,” Laich said at the time. “I played pro hockey for 15 years, threw dudes into dudes. I’m a dude. But I love being able to release emotion truthfully, organically, in the moment [and] not suppress it.”