Jen Affleck addresses Julianne Hough’s comment about her postpartum performance on “Dancing With the Stars”
Jen Affleck addresses Julianne Hough’s comment about her postpartum performance on “Dancing With the Stars”
Daysia TolentinoThu, August 20, 2026 at 10:09 PM UTC
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Jennifer Affleck on June 25 in Inglewood, Calif.; Julianne Hough on June 7 in New York CityCredit: Matt Winkelmeyer/FIFA/Getty; Taylor Hill/GettyKey Points -
Jen Affleck responded to Julianne Hough’s comments on her postpartum body during the season 34 premiere of Dancing With the Stars.
Affleck empathized with Hough, noting that “there’s a lot of nerves when it comes to being on national TV.”
Affleck said she is still processing her time on the dance competition show, saying she was in “pure survival mode” at the time.
Jen Affleck has no hard feelings toward Julianne Hough.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star addressed Hough’s comments about her postpartum performance on Dancing With the Stars nearly a year after the host made her remarks.
During the season 34 premiere on Sept. 16, 2025, Hough asked Affleck how she felt dancing “after just clearly giving birth.” At the time, Affleck, who was paired with pro Jan Ravnik, had just had her third child with husband Zac Affleck weeks before the show aired.
“There’s a lot of nerves when it comes to being on national TV in front of millions of people, so I don’t think she had any ill intent whatsoever,” Affleck told Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast on Thursday. “I think it was just a comment in the moment that I think was just perceived the wrong way.”
Following the premiere, Hough received some backlash about her phrasing on social media, although she had also expressed awe at Affleck’s ability to dance after recently giving birth.
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Hough said after Affleck and Ravnik’s first salsa. “You had a baby eight weeks ago, and you just did that? But not only did you have a baby eight weeks ago, you have three babies under 3.”
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Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik on ‘Dancing with the Stars’Credit: Disney/Eric McCandless
In response, Affleck was open about the difficulties dancing postpartum, but emphasized how rewarding it felt to compete.
“It’s a lot,” she told Hough. “My body hurts. I’m still recovering from giving birth, but I’m having so much fun, and I’m doing it for my kids so in the future they can do this too.”
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Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough on ‘Dancing with the Stars’Credit: Disney/Eric McCandless
Affleck was eliminated after the seventh week of the dance competition series. Today, she is still unpacking her DWTS experience, noting that she was in “pure survival mode” because her body was still recovering from childbirth. As a result, she confessed that she didn’t even register Hough’s comments at the time.
“Looking back at Dancing With the Stars, I am full of gratitude and, honestly, I’m still trying to process all of that because it was the craziest time in my life,” she told the Virtual Reali-Tea podcast.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
