Update!

Julianne Hough Still Dancing With Chuck Wicks?

Despite holding hands at the CMA Awards, the country-singing duo admit they've called it quits

By Breanne L. Heldman Nov 12, 2009 2:12 PMTags
Chuck Wicks, Julianne HoughDenise Truscello/Getty Images

UPDATE: Julianne has confirmed that she and Chuck have entered the just-friends zone.

"We're both just really, really busy with our careers, and we spend a lot of time apart from each other, so we're just taking a little break right now, she tells People. "Honestly, Chuck and I are such good friends—we still hang out all the time, and we're still writing together."

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Just 24 hours earlier, sources close to the couple were telling Since we've already learned that hand-holding equals a hot and heavy relationship, we'll have to apply that new rule to people who aren't in vampire movies as well.

Despite reports that 21-year-old Dancing With the Stars hottie Julianne Hough and her 30-year-old country boy Chuck Wicks had called it quits, the handsome pair may still be together.

And how do we know?

Because they were totally holding hands at the CMA Awards last night!

Hough skipped the red carpet—presumably to avoid questions about the breakup—while Wicks was working it for Entertainment Tonight. Later, E! News spotted them standing together chatting with a small group of people backstage during the show. They appeared playful, swinging their interlaced hands back and forth as they talked.

Just 24 hours earlier, sources close to the couple were telling us they had been fighting over who would take possession of the house they own together, but we can assume they were discussing something a bit more upbeat as they watched Taylor Swift walk away with four statuettes.

Julianne's brother, Derek Hough, stayed coy on the issue when questioned at the Maxim and Ubisoft party at Voyuer in L.A. last night.

"It's like me and Shannon," says Hough, referring to his former longtime girlfriend, Shannon Elizabeth, with whom he still hangs out. "We both love each other very much, but it's a case of the right person, the wrong time."

The Dancing star also shot down rumors of a rift between Wicks and the Hough family.

"I love Chuck," he tells E! News. "He's a great guy."

Judging by the finger follies at the CMAs, Julianne still thinks so, too.

—Additional reporting by Whitney English

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See what else went down last night in our 2009 CMA Awards gallery!