Devone Byrd, PacificCoastNews/Jill Greenberg for NetflixActress and Dancing With the Stars dancer-turned-co-judge Julianne Hough says she "learned a big lesson" from her 2013 blackface scandal.
The 26-year-old had stirred controversy that year when she showed up at a Halloween party dressed up as Uzo Aduba's character Crazy Eyes from the Netflix women's prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black, sporting orange and gray garb, hair knots and...dark makeup.
"Ignorance is sometimes not bliss; I really had no idea what I was doing, and it was all out of fun and respect for the character," Julianne told Allure in an interview posted online on Friday. "I don't even know how to talk about it because it's such a sensitive topic. It makes me so sad to think that I was that dumb. I learned a big lesson."
The dance pro, known for acting roles in movies such as the 2011 Footloose remake, Rock of Ages and Burlesque and who will also star in FOX's live Grease musical, is featured on the cover of the magazine's April 2015 issue, which hits stores on March 31.
Hours following the backlash over her blackface look, Julianne had posted an apology on Twitter, saying, "I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize."
Several celebs criticized her costume publicly. Wendy Williams called Julianne "ignorant." Laverne Cox, who plays Sophia on Orange Is the New Black, said she thinks the dance pro didn't seem to understand the historical context of her look. However, reality star and singer Tamar Braxton appeared to be unbothered, saying Julianne did not "look African-American" to her, joking, "She looks like me with a tan!"
Her brother, fellow pro dancer and veteran Dancing With the Stars cast member Derek Hough had told E! News shortly after the scandal erupted that his sister was "mortified" by the backlash.
"She's my little baby sister and she's the sweetest thing ever," he said at the time. "She is just beyond beside herself."
As for Aduba herself, she told E! News, "I think maybe it was an unfortunate event, but she apologized and I feel like we can all move on."
In her interview with Allure, Julianne also talked about her love life. The dance pro has been dating Washington Capitals hockey player Brooks Laich since December 2013. She said a year later that he and her two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are the "loves of her life."
She famously dated E! personality and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest for more than two years before they split in early 2013.
Julianne had her bob hairstyle, cut for the 2013 film Safe Haven, made into a pixie cut almost a year after their relationship ended and months after she started dating Laich.
"I chopped more," she said. "It was about changing it up and beginning fresh—in the movie but in real life, also."
Julianne, who once again rocks a bob, as seen on DWTS and in a gorgeous pictorial in Allure, added that she still runs into Seacrest, saying, "It's hard not to—he's everywhere."