Derek Hough is an American dancer and choreographer. He is known for his work since September 2007, on the U.S. television dance-competition series Dancing with the Stars, on which he has won five seasons. He also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography in 2013 for three routines that he choreographed on the show.
Derek has also acted in stage productions, such as in the 2006 original production of Footloose: The Musical at the Novelo Theatre in London's West End.
He holds a world champion title in Under 21 Latin American Dance.
Derek grew up the fourth of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He has four sisters, three who are older and Julianne, who is younger. All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers, and his parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college, in Idaho.
When Derek was 12 years old, his parents sent him to London to live and study with dance coaches, Corky and Shirley Ballas. Derek's sister Julianne joined him in London several months later. Originally intending to stay for a year, Derek remained in London for ten years. (Julianne returned after five years.) The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark Ballas, schooling them at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. They received training in song, theater, gymnastics and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") and performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased UK television show.
He attended and subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
DEREK HOUGH
28
American Dancer
Los Angeles, CA