Everyone knows that Brooks Laich and Julianne Hough are going through a rough patch in their relationship. The "Dancing With the Stars" pro was recently seen without her wedding ring, giving rise to speculations of an impending divorce. Now the ice hockey player has told that men can feel as emotional as women.

The 36-year-old Laich was speaking at the iHeart Radio Podcast Awards in Los Angeles on Friday. He added that men "might be afraid to be vulnerable", amid his marital woes with his wife Julianne Hough, 31.

"I believe men can be looked at like we maybe have an understanding of situations, or have things figured out or we're more composed, and very truthfully we're not in a lot of situations," Laich, 36, told US Weekly.

"We don't know the answer we don't have the way out. Our emotions are real and we're in it with our partner, our friend, whatever. And I think that's vulnerability that men maybe don't show enough. It's okay to say 'I don't know,'it's okay to say 'I'm scared too.' It's okay to say those kinds of things that men may sometimes put on a facade and maybe pretend that they have everything figured out or handled, or it doesn't phase them," Laich added.

He hopes to talk about emotional complexities of men on his podcast, "How Men Think". Laich co-hosts the podcast with Gavin DeGraw. He added that they try to show "men's vulnerabilities, insecurities, things that we struggle with and set down our weapons to create a safe place for other men to voice the same in their lives."

.@brookslaich and @GavinDeGraw of ‘How Men Think’ are best bro’s tonight at the #iHeartPodcastAwards 🙌🎙!https://t.co/X2aKahI9gC pic.twitter.com/0p6ClStGFR

— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) January 18, 2020

The NHL player spoke about his wife saying she inspired him to want to explore new areas in his life and he has her full support. "I've always wanted to grow. This podcast has been an amazing platform for me to do that," Laich said.

Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough on her way to the premiere of "Paradise," also starring Russell Brand. http://instagram.com/p/csZoQ3i

Reports started pouring in about trouble in paradise in December last year. This was a month after Hough and Laich enjoyed a couple's vacation at Nobu Hotel Los Cabos. They were joined by Hough's brother Derek and his girlfriend Hayley Erbert and "DWTS" alum Brooke Burke and her boyfriend Scott Rigsby.