The couple has been 'working on their marriage,' a source tells ET.
While many couples are with their significant others 24/7 amid the coronavirus pandemic, Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich are one pair who have chosen to quarantine separately.
A source tells ET that the two aren't self-isolating together because they prefer different scenery. "Julianne is an L.A. girl and wanted to be home during the quarantine, and Brooks loves Idaho and wanted to be out in the country," the source explains.
Both Hough and Laich have been active on social media during their respective quarantines, showing off how they're passing the time. The former Dancing With the Stars judge has been keeping herself -- and fans -- busy by taking her Kinrgy classes indoors, and was photographed enjoying a brief walk outside with Ben Barnes on Thursday. Meanwhile, Laich and his husky have been enjoying nature in Idaho.
"They talk often but this is a very hard time," ET's source says of the couple, who tied the knot near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 2017. "They've been working on their marriage and being apart is not easy."
Rumors that the pair's marriage was on the rocks sparked around the new year. Laich shared on Instagram that he wanted to release "old identities" in 2020 and that he felt "a new stage of life" calling him. Hough supported the message, commenting, "so beautiful." The former hockey player also recently shared that he wasn't "fully expressed" in his sexuality.
Months earlier, Hough revealed that she doesn't identify as straight.
"I was connecting to the woman inside that doesn't need anything, versus the little girl that looked to him to protect me," she told Women's Health. "I was like 'Is he going to love this version of me?' But the more I dropped into my most authentic self, the more attracted he was to me."
"Now we have a more intimate relationship," she added. "... I [told Laich], 'You know I'm not straight, right?' And he was like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I was like, 'I'm not. But I choose to be with you.'"
See more in the video below.
Reporting by Adriane Schwartz.
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