Derek Hough is a fan-favorite on Dancing With the Stars, and unfortunately, he will not be a part of season 24 on the show. This is not the first time that Hough has taken a season off and we’re hoping that it’s not a permanent exit. Last season on the show, he was paired with Marilu Henner and he confessed on his TV Guide blog that:
I don’t know if I’ll be back next season. It’s too early to say. I have a few projects on my plate, but you never know what’s going to happen. I didn’t think I was going to come back to the show a couple times now and ended up coming back. That show will always be my family.
Last season, Hough was a surprise addition to the cast because fans thought he would be working too much, focusing on the live TV production of Hairspray and on his Broadway show “Singin’ In the Rain.” Fortunately for DWTS fans, his Broadway production had been postponed.
Currently, Hough is gearing up for another dancing and singing tour with his sister, DWTS judge Julianne Hough. In an interview with AOL, Julianne talked about working with her brother on their third, upcoming tour. She dished:
We’re literally with each other 24/7 and have been for, I feel like, the last three years. We did two tours, and in the meantime I was finishing up my house, so I was living with him between tours. Now he’s working on his house, so he’s living with me and we’re working on the tour again … There are moments — trust me! — because he’s a creative and off in la la land, and I’m a little more structured. I like to have things in order to create versus just, like, “Let’s just throw out ideas!” Where I’m like, “But where do they go?!” When we work together we’re so different, but it works.
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Derek Hough has also been cast as one of the judges on Jennifer Lopez’s new, upcoming reality dance competition show World of Dance. Fellow cast members include Ne-Yo and Jenna Dewan-Tatum. Hough also recently appeared in and directed a Michael Buble music video titled “I Believe In You”. Check it out below.
Hough’s buddy Mark Ballas, again, is not coming back to the show either. And, others who are not returning for season 24 are Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani. Burke dealt with a lot of stress and backlash being paired with Ryan Lochte last season. As for Dovolani, he previously released the following statement to People:
I wanted my fans to hear it from me first. I will not be on Dancing With the Stars this season, season 24. While I will miss the show and interacting with our wonderful audiences, both at home and in the ballroom, I will continue to focus on growing my Dance With Me USA studios and teaching. I will also be traveling across the country performing and making personal appearances. I will be hosting my second annual Tony Dovolani Foundation: Golf For Special Needs Children tournament on July 14. I am honored to be a member of the PGA Player and Coaching Development Committee and look forward to contributing to the future of professional golf.
On the other hand, there are two pro cast members who said they would not be on the show this season, but they changed their minds. Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd are back. The couple are engaged and recently welcomed their first child together, a baby boy. After last season, Chmerkovskiy had said that he wanted to take time away and dedicate it to being a new parent. This past Fall 2016, Chmerkovskiy told Refinery29:
The baby comes in January, and then a month and a half later I would have to be in L.A. to start training with somebody else. Trust me, I really don’t care how this comes across, but there’s no money on the planet that can replace me missing out the three, four, five months of my baby’s life. Zero chance.
Together, on Good Morning America, prior to the cast reveal, Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd revealed that they were on board for season 24.
