Hayley Erbert Hough’s return to Dancing with the stars The ballroom was emotional – and something that her husband, DWTS judge Derek Hough, didn’t see it as a possibility amid her recovery from emergency surgery in December 2023.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE after performing Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” on The Live Show on Tuesday, Oct. 15, Hayley, 30, and Derek, 39, opened up about what their return to the gym means after Hayley’s sudden hospitalization for a cranial hematoma, which is characterized by accumulation of blood in the skull and emergency craniectomy.
“When they released the package, that’s when I started losing it because I hadn’t really seen much footage in a while because I was just focusing on progressing every day,” Hayley, 30, tells PEOPLE. “And to come back to it, I was overwhelmed with emotion, but it was extremely special to be here.”
Former member of DWTS dance group adds, “This fall has always been an energy that was most welcoming and it was nice to be here, to be able to share it with him. And I’m just grateful to be here.”
In the clip that represents Hayley’s return to DWTS ballroom, Derek recalled the moment he learned his wife was “basically dying” in the middle of their Symphony of Dance tour. “We took her to the hospital, she’s still in the costume, and the doctor came to me and said she’s got a serious brain bleed, so we have to operate right away,” Hough said in the video. “He said he might not make it and even if he did, he wouldn’t be the same person.”
Hayley Erbert Hough and Derek Hough on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on October 15.
Disney/Eric McCandless
Derek Hough reveals the mantra that led him and wife Hayley Erbert to a health scare (Exclusive)
“I was like, in those moments, we never even thought, ‘Oh, we’re going to dance again,’ honestly,” Derek tells PEOPLE. “And then to be here, it’s amazing. It’s just hard to put it into words.”
“Tonight was just the beginning of telling the whole story,” he continues. “We’ve shared some more video and photos of what happened to show us just how serious this is. But this is the beginning and there’s so much more to tell this story and we’re so excited to share the rest.”
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Hayley Erbert Hough on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on October 15.
Disney/Eric McCandless
Derek Hough and wife Hayley Erbert had a date at the 2024 Emmys, 9 months after her emergency surgery
The pair went on to talk about the pre-show rituals they’ve started doing since Hayley’s medical scare.
“When we go on tour, all the dancers on the crew, we all have these little badges that say if there’s any sign of this, this, this or that, we need to find a medical team or something,” Derek tells PEOPLE. “If only we were aware. We’re just being very careful. But I’m very, very, very careful, almost maybe overly careful about the things that we do, the moves that we make to make sure that she’s protected, that she’s safe at all times.”
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Hayley adds that she focuses on “listening to your body.” “I can tell when something’s wrong and I’ll be like, ‘Ooh, that’s not very good. I shouldn’t be doing this move or I should’ I’m not going to do this number,” she explains, “And so I feel like I’m smart about that way, I will listen to myself.”
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Source: HIS Education