Exclusive: Julianne Hough Dishes on Her ‘World of Dance’ Appearance

Julianne Hough is teaming up with brother Derek Hough for the new season of World of Dance.

The Dancing With the Stars alum revealed during an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com recently that she’ll be making an appearance on her brother’s NBC dance competition show, which premieres Tuesday, May 29 at 10 p.m. ET, in a different role than she’s taken on before.

“They’re doing a mentor episode where the judges can bring in somebody that they think could add value to the contestants,” the Grease Live star told PopCulture. “[Derek] asked me to come in, which was great.”

Acting as a mentor for the World of Dance performers, some of the most talented dancers in the world, is definitely a different experience from partnering with or judging the contestants on Dancing With the Stars, she added.

“It’s amazing, because on Dancing With the Stars you’re critiquing people who have never danced before, so you get to see them progress a lot. But you don’t really focus on the tiny details, you focus on the big picture of things,” she told PopCulture. “Whereas on World of Dance, they’re the best dancers in the world. You can really get in there and critique the little nuances and the little details which make a huge difference, and they get it, they understand it. So, it was just a very difference experience and a different approach. It freshened up my coaching abilities too.”

As to which approach she prefers, the Footloose actress admitted she has reasons for preferring both situations.

“As an artist, you like to get in there and critique it as much as you can so that you can give them feedback to really take it to the next level for their actual ability [on World of Dance],” she told PopCulture. “But as far as my heart, I love watching somebody go through something and they have this big monumental experience and transformation [on Dancing With the Stars].

She continued: “They’re very different things and they fulfill something very different. You know, the artist in me loves to be able to go deep into the critiques but … the humanity part in me loves for everyone to succeed.”

Working with brother Derek again was also a bonus for her World of Dance appearance.

“Oh, we’re a great team! We love working together,” Julianne told PopCulture. “We sort of have our hidden language, where we don’t even really speak to each other, we just sort of do. Especially when we choreograph, we just kind of create and we balance each other out really well.”

The brother-sister duo toured for three years together but aren’t planning on working as closely as they have in the past for the time being.

“I think actually we’re focusing on some other projects and focusing more on our personal artistry right now,” she told PopCulture.

Aside from her own work as a dancer, actress and musician, Julianne and her husband, NHL player Brooks Laich, are preparing for a summer of major milestones, including their first wedding anniversary, his 35th birthday and her 30th.

“It’s actually all in one month, so we’re like oh my gosh, there’s a lot of celebration happening,” she said, adding that the two plan on traveling quite a bit with the help of the newly-launched Chase and Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card. “I think for us we’re just kind of open to exploring what’s out there, and obviously with the Mariott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, you get so many benefits, just like the points, and the resources are incredible. We’ve got a choice between 6,500 different properties and 127 different countries and territories, so I think for us it’s now just trying to choose because there are so many options.”

She continued: “It’s great, because we really just want to celebrate with our friends and family, and it’s about having accessibility for everyone and being able to choose a place that everybody has access to, and obviously with the credit card can help them get there.”

World of Dance Season 2 premieres Tuesday, May 29, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Instagram/Julianne Hough