The Huff family patriarch is from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and met his future wife, Marian Heaton, on the ballroom team at Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho).
Bruce and Marian were born to Mormon parents who were ballroom dancers and settled in Salt Lake City. There he worked as a communications executive and co-founded the supplement maker Nutraceutical Corporation. The company reached a valuation of $300 million under his watch before being sold in 2017, according to the Deseret News.
Bruce has also entered politics, serving two terms as state Republican Party chairman and running for Congress in 2023.
Although he didn’t win that race, he told the Deseret News at the time that he was running for his family’s future. “I have 10 children, 22 grandchildren and growing,” he explained. “And I truly feel that the promise of America is at risk, especially for our grandchildren.”
As for his most famous offspring, he joked, “I never thought dance lessons would pay off,” and said he’s most proud of hearing from others that his son Derek Hough and daughter Julianne Hough are among the “kindest people in the entertainment industry.”
In addition to Derek and Julian, Bruce also has daughters Shari Huff Selman, Marabeth Poole, and Katherine Huff with Marian. After divorcing in the late 1990s, he married Debra Francom Hough, who also has five children.
