Derek Hough Reveals Hardest Part of Judging on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Derek Hough DWTS

ABC/Eric McCandless Derek Hough.

Derek Hough, the six-time Mirrorball champion, had his first outing as a judge on “Dancing With the Stars” in season 29, and he’ll be returning to the panel once again for the upcoming season 30.

Hough told Us Weekly that he’s excited to continue being a judge, though he would consider returning as a dancer at some point.

“When Tom Brady won a seventh Super Bowl, I was like, ‘Oh no, do I need to go for seven here?” he joked at the time. “No, I think – who knows? I never say never, but for right now, I’m looking forward to going back as a judge.”


Hough Talked About the Hardest Part of Being a Judge

During his interview with Us Weekly, Hough opened up about the hardest part of being a judge on the show.

“The hardest part about [being a judge is] just keeping what I’m trying to say [to] 20 seconds because it’s live,” he told the outlet. “That’s been really difficult, especially because I want to help, but I want to coach, so I want to be like, ‘All right, so here’s what we’re going to do.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh wait, we can’t do that.’ I’ve just gotta give a general critique.”

Hough also shared his thoughts on host Tyra Banks, who he said did a good job during the season.

“She was great,” he told Us Weekly. “Her walk down [into the ballroom]… I started looking forward to it. I’m like, ‘Alright, what do we got today?”

He added, “I think she did a great job and live TV is extraordinarily difficult… I think she did a phenomenal job.”


Hough Recently Hinted at Proposing to His Girlfriend

In a video titled “Recreating the DANCE that made us fall in LOVE,” on their YouTube Channel “Derek & Hayley x Dayley Life,” Erbert and Hough talked about how they met and discussed the Rumba they first performed together, which they said led to them falling in love years ago.

Hough explained that their first dance was a rumba that he originally danced with Nastia Liukin during the 2015 season of Dancing With the Stars, but he had to pick a different partner when he went on tour with the dance, and he decided he wanted to do it with Hayley Erbert, who was a 19-year-old professional dancer at the time.

She said she wasn’t the one who went in for it, but they had come close to kissing multiple times before.

“I remember the front row of the audience being like, ‘WOOOO!’” Hough shared.

The couple also talked about possibly getting married in the near future, as they’ve been together for seven years.

“We should probably lock it up pretty soon, huh?” Hough asked.

Erbert replied that it has been “a long time coming,” while showing off the bare ring finger on her left hand.

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“Dancing With the Stars” will return in the fall of 2021 for an all-new season. The new season will likely air starting in mid-September.

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