Tonight on Dancing with the Stars, it was Wicked night. The dancers performed to songs from the Musical Wicked, as the movie’s director, Jon M. Chu, judged them alongside Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli, and Carrie Ann Inaba.
To start off the night, the pros danced to a medley of songs from the two-time Oscar-winning film. It was such a big production that Derek, Julianne Hough, and Alfonso Ribeiro joined in to help them recreate the choreography for Dancing Through Life and What Is This Feeling?, which went viral last year.
You can say they were all defying gravity with a performance that I would not be surprised brings home the Emmy in September.
When it comes to went home, once again Andy Richter and Emma Slater were too popular to go home. And I am OK with that! Sorry to Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold, who are no longer vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Wicked: For Good dances its way into theaters on November 21st.
Derek Hough is going to be a dad in a few months, and that is not his only new job. The dancer is dancing his way over to Extra TV as the new host, replacing Billy Bush.
Hough said, “The ballroom has been my stage, my home, and my launchpad. Now, I’m stepping into an exciting new spotlight as the host of ‘Extra.’ I’m truly looking forward to collaborating with this incredible team, diving into this next creative chapter, and connecting with fans and audiences in a whole new way. It’s an honor to join a show that’s been a cornerstone of entertainment news for over 30 years — and I’m ready to help lead it into a bold, fresh new era for Season 32 and beyond.”
Fun Fact: He is not the only Dancing with the Stars personality to be the face of the entertainment news show. Mario Lopez was the first one when he hosted it from 2008 to 2019.
Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert, are working on a new project. They are expecting their first baby later this year.
They made the announcement on social media in a video with the couple hugging and the mom-to-be showing off the baby’s sonogram. You can also see her baby bump, which makes me think that she is in her second trimester.
The Houghs met in 2014 when she was cast to be one of Julianne Hough’s backup dancers. By 2015, they were an item. However, they did not get engaged until 2022 and tied the knot in August 2023.
Four months later, their love was tested when she suffered a burst vessel in her brain and underwent emergency craniectomy. She survived the surgery, but she had a long road to recovery, and he remained by her side.
Now that that bad time is over, they are ready for the good times, like their first baby!
Before Derek Hough was judging Emma Slater on Dancing with the Stars, they danced in George Michael’s unreleased music video for Round Here. They look so young when she was 15 and he was 19 in that 2005 photo.
Slater wrote this with the photo: “This photo was taken in London on my first professional job (I was 15 at the time though I said I was 16 was I wanted to do it) Derek Hough did it also! I just stumbled across it, can you find us?! It was for a George Michael music video that he never used.
“Love a blast from the past. If you just started watching the show you may not know that a lot of the pro dancers grew up dancing along side each other in competitions. There’s a lot of back story!”
