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Popular “Dancing With the Stars” pro-turned-judge Derek Hough recently opened up about his childhood, including revealing his teen alter ego — it turns out he was quite the punk rock kid.
Here is what Hough had to say.
Hough Was A Total Emo Goth
In an interview with TikTok For You’s Brittany Broski, Hough opened up about how he got into dancing and how he led two very different lives once he did.
“I grew up in a family where music was always one, we were always dancing in the living room. All my sisters went to dance class and I would just kind of sit in the parking lot. Eventually, my mom was like you gotta go in there, but I didn’t want to go. I was like, ‘No! Nooo! Dancing’s stupid!’ but going in there, I had an amazing coach, amazing teacher who just made it really cool for me. I fell in love with it — nine, 10 years old,” recalled Hough.
But he also played drums in a band, so he had to juggle the double life he was living.
“It’s funny, I think people always had that dream of being a rock star, right? I loved rock music and emo music. Growing up, I was in bands, playing drums and guitar, the nail varnish, the eyeliner, all that stuff,” said Hough, adding, “I would be playing in a punk rock band, I’d have the whole getup, the black clothes, the hair and then the next day I’d be at a Latin ballroom competition in like a sparkling rhinestone shirt dancing the cha-cha and then I would take that off and the next day I’m back into punk rock. I had these complete alter egos.”
The only question now is — are there videos of these punk rock band performances?!
Hough Also Revealed He Designed His Own Costume Once
In talking about all those rhinestones, Hough recalled how one time when he was a kid, he designed an absolutely horrible dancing costume.
“I remember giving it to my coach and being like, ‘What do you think?!’ It was like tiger print cuffs, tiger print collar, and in my mind, I’m like, ‘Yo, this is genius!'” said Hough with a laugh. “And they were like, ‘Yeah, no, it’s not gonna happen.’ And I’m like, ‘No, wait, what if it was white tiger?!”
It still didn’t fly. But he said he has come to appreciate all the sparkly costumes, though for a time he certainly did not.
“When I was on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ there was a time when I was like, ‘No more rhinestones! I’m sick of it! No!’ and then when I was on ‘World of Dance,’ I was just like, ‘More rhinestones! We need more sparkles!’ I missed it. I was like I never knew what I had until I left,” he said, adding, “Now I’m back on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and I’m like, all the rhinestones!”
“Dancing With the Stars” season 30 should premiere in September 2021 on ABC.
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