Julianne Hough Felt She 'Needed to Be Perfect' While Dating Ryan Seacrest

— -- When Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest split, fans were surprised.

Hough really wasn't.

"Every relationship [in the past], there was nothing wrong or bad, but there was nothing right. I had one foot out because I didn’t want to get hurt and I didn't say what was on my mind because I didn't want to ruffle any feathers," she told Redbook magazine. "I needed to be perfect."

However, the former "Dancing with the Stars" pro, 25, has reformed herself. Last November, she and her family attended a six-day seminar "about creating your own destiny," she explained.

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"I was not into it at first, but I learned so much about myself and why my relationships didn't work that by the end I was on a high. I was seeing a couple people, but immediately [pretends to text guys], 'You are nice, but this is going nowhere,'" she recalled. "The next day my 'Curve' co-star introduced [hockey player Brooks Laich and me]. It couldn't have been a better time. We've been open and honest from day one.”

Hough acknowledged that had she gone into her past relationships -- with Seacrest included -- with that attitude, things may have turned out differently.

"Now I’m not holding anything back because I’d rather get my heart broken than never know what it is to be completely, madly in love," she said. "If I had been this open in my last relationship, who knows?"