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Julianne Hough has revealed she ended an ongoing disagreement with her brother Derek after his partner became severely unwell.
The Footloose actor, 36, and her sibling, 39, rose to fame as professional dancers together. Last year, she joined him as a co-host on Dancing with the Stars, however their close working relationship has not been without drama.
Without detailing the family fight, Julianne said she put her differences with Derek aside after his wife, Hayley Erbert, 29, underwent an emergency cranioplasty – a type of surgery where part of the skull is repaired after injury from previous operations – last December.
Speaking to People, Julianne said: “Something happens and it just is like a clean slate. Especially with what just happened with Derek and Hayley, there could have been little things just kind of looming or lingering in the background, but when you’re left with life-or-death situations, nothing else matters.”
She added: “Whatever little things of competition there are or whatever it might be, those things just go away.”
Erbert, who is also a professional dancer, was taken to hospital after she became disoriented during a performance in Washington last December.
Derek later confirmed his wife, who he had married in August that year, had undergone surgery to replace a part of her skull that had been removed during a previous operation. She returned to the stage four months later.
Julianne explained that she feels “blessed to have the family that I hate” despite the fact she and her relatives don’t always have the same “beliefs or understandings of things”.
She continued: “The thing that hurts the most is when we’re not connected. And so sometimes you do the thing that hurts the most, which is remove yourself because you’re trying to protect yourself.
“So our family is like any other family,” the Dancing with the Stars host said. “We have our situations and our s***, but our deepest desire is to connect.
“And I think we all really have a strong desire to make that happen.”
Julianne also revealed her sister Katherine, 42, had also had a “very challenging time” after her partner died of glioblastoma – a fast growing type of brain tumour – two years ago.
The professional dancer said the series of sad events had only brought her family closer. “When something tragic happens or something really hard or something where somebody needs you,” she said. “It makes you realise that as humans, as people on this planet, we really do care so much.”
