The head of the Hough family is from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and met his future wife. Marianne Heaton on the ball team at Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho).
Bruce and Marianne, both from Mormon families and the children of ballroom dancing parents, settled in Salt Lake City. There he worked as a public relations executive and co-founded the nutritional supplement maker Nutraceutical Corporation, which he said Deseret Newsunder his leadership reached a valuation of $300 million before being sold in 2017.
Bruce has also ventured into politics, serving two terms as state Republican Party chairman and running for Congress in 2023.
Although he didn't win the race, he told Deseret News while he was fighting for the future of his family. “I have 10 children, 22 grandchildren, and they are growing,” he explained. “And I really feel like the promise of America is under threat, especially with these grandchildren.”
Of his most famous offspring, he joked, “I never thought these dance lessons would pay off,” noting that he was most proud of hearing from others that his son Derek Hough and daughter Julianne Hough were among the “kindest people… in the entertainment business.”
In addition to Derek and Julianne, Bruce has other daughters. Shari Hough Selman, Marabeth Poole And Catherine Hough with Marianne. After they divorced in the late 1990s, he got married. Debra Frank Houghalso the parent of five children.
