Julianne Hough’s Wellness Routine ‘Starts with Water’ (Exclusive)

Whenever Julianne Hough is asked her beauty and wellness secret, she always has the same answer.

“I’m like, ‘Honestly, it always starts with water,'” Hough tells PEOPLE. “It starts with hydration and feeding the body from the inside out.”

That’s why it was a no-brainer for the Dancing with the Stars host, 36, when she was approached by Icelandic Glacial water about being their first-ever celebrity partner for their “You Are What You Drink, Be Exceptional” campaign.

“‘Be Exceptional’ is something that I live my life by,” Hough says. “We get to choose every day if we’re going to be exceptional. And, by the way, exceptional doesn’t mean perfect. Exceptional means giving your best that day, and your best might be 60 percent, and that’s exceptional.”

For Hough, she tends to feel most exceptional during the “little moments” of life.

“I feel exceptional when I wake up in the morning, and I don’t look at my phone,” she says. “Or, instead of going right to coffee, I drink my water first thing in the morning. I just had a dinner party with friends the other day, and my love language is creating beautiful and memorable experiences for people. That, to me, feels like being exceptional.”

When it comes to hitting a certain ounce-goal each day, Hough says she’s “gone in phases.”

Hough used to carry one of those motivational water bottles that tallies how many ounces of water you should be drinking by each point of the day.

“I used to do that a few years ago, but now, aesthetically, I just want to carry my glass Icelandic water bottle and take it around,” she says.

These days, Hough is busy with KINRGY, her dance and fitness platform, and Ovation, the dance convention she founded with her brother Derek Hough. She’s also gearing up to co-host season 34 of Dancing with the Stars with Alfonso Ribeiro.

With Robert Irwin and Alix Earle already announced as competitors, Hough is “chomping at the bit” to find out who else will be joining the new cast.

“Like everyone else, I have no idea who is on the cast yet,” she says. “I think this season is going to be spectacular from what we experienced last season to now. I get people sliding into my DMs all the time, like, ‘Hey, put in a good word.'”

In 2026, Hough will make her return to the big screen in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s monster film The Bride.

“I’m so excited,” Hough says. “I haven’t done a film in a very long time, and to be a part of this cast and to work with the director, Maggie, in a role where I felt I could do well after not having that be my focus for a long time, it was a beautiful experience and foray back into the world of acting and filmmaking.”

No matter where her career takes her, Hough says her “through-line” will remain consistent: “I just want to be a space and a person that allows people to connect to their most authentic version of themselves.”