Hayley Erbert Hough is back on the dance floor!
In a clip introducing the dancer’s return to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom ahead of the Oct. 15 “Dedication” themed episode — nearly a year after she underwent an emergency craniectomy — Erbert Hough’s husband, DWTS judge Derek Hough, opened up about the day everything changed. He explained that the two were newlyweds, DWTS had just wrapped season 32 and the couple were back on tour together “doing what we loved with the person that we love.”
“It just all came to a screeching halt in the most devastating way,” he recalled in the sneak peek, which will also air on the show before the couple’s emotional performance in the ballroom. “I was on stage, and she’s supposed to come out. The stage manager walked out and just said, ‘Hey, she’s not coming on stage.’ She was on the side of the stage having full seizures and, essentially, dying. It’s really hard to even put into words other than just pure fear.”
“We rush her to the hospital, she’s still in her costume, and the doctor came to me and he said that, ‘She has a severe brain bleed, so we have to operate right now,'” Hough continued. “He said that she might not make it and that even if she does make it, she won’t be the same person.”
Hayley Erbert Hough and Derek Hough.
Frank Micelotta/Disney via Getty
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A former member of the DWTS dance troupe, Erbert Hough was suddenly hospitalized in December 2023 for a cranial hematoma, which is characterized by blood collecting in the skull. At the time, she and Hough were on their joint Symphony of Dance tour before she had to be rushed into surgery.
“At the end of last night’s tour performance in Washington, D.C., my wife Hayley became disoriented and was taken to the hospital,” Hough wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “She was diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy. She is in stable condition.”
In September 2024, Hough told PEOPLE that “it’s really hard” to watch a loved one go through such trauma. As Erbert Hough has healed, her dancer hubby said the two were “really trying to stay in the moment, staying present.”
“That’s so much easier said than done, and it just sounds like such a phrase,” he admitted. “It’s one of the things that I really learned from Hayley during that time” and it’s something “that she helped me with.”
Hayley Erbert and Derek Hough arrive for the Mercedes-Benz Academy Awards viewing party on March 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Timothy Norris/FilmMagic
“Honestly, she was just in the moment, you know, she wasn’t focusing on, like, what’s gonna happen, what’s the future,” he added. “It was just about, ‘What can I do right now that’s going to help them, or even help myself,’ and just staying present.”
Throughout her recovery, Erbert and Hough celebrated their first wedding anniversary, sharing a joint Instagram post on Aug. 26.
“1-year ago today I married my beautiful wife @hayley.erbert,” Hough began. “This past year has been a journey filled with so many challenges, blessings, difficulties and triumphs. Through it all, your grace and beauty have shone brightly, reminding me every day of how blessed I am to walk this path with you.”
“But above all, this year has been a testament to the power of love—our love. Love truly conquers all,” it continued. “Here’s to many more years of facing life together, with love leading the way. I love you more than words can express. Happy Anniversary ❤️”
Hayley Erbert Hough and Derek Hough.
The Walt Disney Company via Getty
Hough also told AND! News on Sept. 25 that the next chapter for him and Erbert Hough holds children, saying they “definitely want to have a family eventually.”
“We’ll see what’s in the cards, what’s on the horizon,” he said. “Little dancing children running around,” he said, adding that Erbert Hough is “a miracle.”
“She really is, and I don’t say that lightly,” he concluded.
Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and can be streamed the next day on Hulu.
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