Quote from Oladosun Joshua Segun on October 11, 2025, 1:11 PM

They are living life together, one step at a time, even though Derek Hough may be the one spinning Hayley Erbert around the dance floor. In addition, the couple performed three times last year as a professional partnership after Hayley's remarkably quick recovery from emergency skull surgery to address a cerebral hemorrhage she sustained in December 2023.

Only four months after their wedding, the in-sickness-and-in-health part of their vows was put to the test, and when she returned to Dancing With the Stars last October, she and her husband performed a routine to Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things," and there was not a dry eye in the house—not even Derek's.

"We've had a full marriage already, just in a year and a half," in March, Derek made a joke about spending so much time on hold with his spouse. "We found a really good balance. We love it. We're actually really fortunate. We were just being grateful every day. There's so much to be grateful for."

They were experts at the pas de deux, but now they are practicing for a three-person dance party after the couple revealed in July that Hayley, who turns 31 on October 11, is expecting their first child.

A recurring trend in Derek's posts since "#babyhough" joined the debate is the plural, "Date Night with my Babies," which he labeled a reel from the Oct. 6 Tron: Ares premiere. Derek, 40, aspires to dual daddy-zaddy status when he becomes a father.

At this point, neither of them could imagine dancing through life with anyone else, even though it has not always been easy.

The next year, Hayley joined the DWTS pro troupe after meeting her future husband, who recruited the Kansas native to dance on their "Move Live on Tour 2014," with his sister Julianne Hough.

Derek, the six-time DWTS champion, acknowledged on a November 2023 episode of the podcast Couple Things With Shawn Johnson and Andrew East that he had "a negative association with marriage" as a child of divorced parents, despite the fact that they had been dating since 2015.

"For me it was just like, what's the point?" Derek went on. "Like, I'm good, maybe it's not something for me."

But as time went on, he stated, "we started surrounding ourselves with couples, with people who were married and had great relationships."

"10 different versions of our relationship," Derek revealed, including between him and Hayley. "In our vows we talked about it, we walked through fire together...We've been through some insane obstacles, insane moments that would usually crush and destroy couples."

He went on, "There would be times when our relationship was over, and it was dead—and I mean that in a beautiful way."

The point is, he clarified, "This relationship is over but let's start this new one...Now let's begin this new version of who we are together."

According to Hayley, every relationship they have had "is better than the last."

Although the landscape was stunning, Hayley, who wore a custom Marchesa down the aisle, recalled, “I don't remember seeing any of it. I was, like, straight tunnel vision to Derek the entire time that I didn't hear anybody."

However, Hayley deserves all the praise for organizing their special day. "She literally did that entire thing," Derek remarked, "just the execution, organization like logistics, laying it all out." "It was masterful." Indeed, the reception's dancing was excellent.

According to Hayley, "You feel the pressure, because you're like, 'This is literally a once in a lifetime thing, it has to be perfect.' But then I was like, actually, it just has to be perfect for us."

They then left for their two-week honeymoon in Italy before going on tour.

Derek said, "I try to keep my thoughts one day at a time," when the newlyweds were discussing how they were changing and growing together on Couple Things. "Because if I think about everything that is happening, I will get overwhelmed." They had no idea that a month later, they would have to survive the fire once more.

They had just finished their act in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2023, when Hayley became ill and was sent to the hospital right away for surgery to relieve pressure on her brain due to a ruptured blood artery.

"That's part of the symbolism of us getting married and having dinner in the garden," Derek stated during the podcast. "It was the idea of growth, the idea of things in nature are not clean. It's tangled, it's crazy, it's messy, it's this and that, but it's so beautiful."

He now feels incredibly fortunate to be establishing a relationship with Hayley.

As he disclosed, he had pictures of becoming a father dancing through his mind. "Our love has just deepened, and it's gotten stronger and better."

He stated that all they had experienced, "just makes you reflect and take stock of how important life is."