One of Juliane Hough’s latest Instagram posts sparked fierce debate among her fans as she filmed herself at a sauna looking noticeably thin, with the contour of her ribcage visible under her skin while wearing a blue LED anti-aging mask, and striking playful poses.

“This is the strangest thing I’ve seen in a while,” wrote one viewer on the post, uploaded last Monday (September 30). “Are you ok?”

Far from celebrating her spa day or commenting on her beauty routine, her comment section became filled with the back-and-forth of fans and critics, with one side defending the dancer and the other criticizing her appearance and demeanor.

“I don’t usually address comments like this but I’m going to say a few things about this video,” Hough replied. “I’ve never been healthier or happier from the inside out.”

Julianne Hough responds to fans body-shaming her after a video of her sauna routine caused some to label her appearance as “unhealthy” and her demeanor as “disturbing”

Image credits: Taylor Hill / Getty

Hough went on to address the comments that labeled her behavior as “erratic” and “strange,” explaining that it was all part of a deliberate effort on her part to release her negative emotions, stress, and other harmful feelings from her body.

“Grief, loss. Sadness and fear also get stored in the body and we hold on to that in different ways. I made it a huge priority to accept, express, process and release a lot of emotions over the years,” she stated.

Image credits: juleshough

The dancer recognized how her attitude might’ve been off putting to some viewers, but assured them that the playfulness she displayed was her most authentic version. “My playful goofy side is a reflection of how safe I feel in my own skin and with the people around me,” she noted.

For Hough, being able to freely express oneself, no matter how strange and bizarre it may seem to others, is a healthy habit that people lose as they become adults. “I saw somewhere that when kids are the most playful and can be the most strange and weird versions of themselves it means they are the safest to do so,” the dancer explained.

For the dancer, who has dealt with self-esteem issues in the past, acting erratic and goofy has always been a way to escape the pressures of her public life

Image credits: juleshough

Her more critical viewers, however, were not convinced, as they believed her movements to be sexually suggestive and not childlike as she said.

“What is the deal with all your inappropriate videos lately? There was no need to film yourself bumping and grinding,” wrote one.

Hough reiterated her message in a follow-up video, where she thanked her fans for their concern and support, reassuring them that she’s feeling healthy and content.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Julianne Hough (@juleshough)

“Thanks for your concern, but I love my sauna sessions, cold plunges, lymphatic drainage routines, working out, dancing, and spending time with my dog, Sunny.”

She also addressed the negative comments body-shaming her with one, for example, telling her to “lighten up on the Ozempic.”

“This was on the premiere of Dancing With the Stars!” she wrote on a clip of herself enjoying a burger, playfully shutting down the negative remarks.

Image credits: juleshough

The dancer had opened up in the past about dealing with body-image issues. 

“I was very self-accepting growing up, then something switched in middle school,” she told Redbook Magazine in 2017. “I would compare myself to everyone and later I did a film where I basically was told I was fat every day, yet I was the skinniest I’d ever been.”

Hough explained how the experience such as that made her resort to what she described as acting “completely crazy or goofy” in order to calm herself down, trying to recapture the “freedom [she] felt as a kid before all that happened.”

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