:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/derek-hough-wife-hayley-erbert-main-072225-3b96ace5782443c89118224615546b24.jpg "Derek Hough relives harrowing moment he found out about wife Hayley Erbert's medical emergency wh...")
The &34;Dancing With the Stars&34; judge still doesn't know exactly what happened. Derek Hough relives harrowing moment he found out about wife Hayley Erbert's
The "Dancing With the Stars" judge still doesn't know exactly what happened.
Derek Hough relives harrowing moment he found out about wife Hayley Erbert's medical emergency while on stage
The "Dancing With the Stars" judge still doesn't know exactly what happened.
By Raechal Shewfelt
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Raechal Shewfelt
Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.
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October 15, 2025 7:59 p.m. ET
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Hayley Erbert and Derek Hough attend an Emmys party in September 2024. Credit:
Kayla Oaddams/Getty
Derek Hough is looking back at the terrifying time when he learned his wife, Hayley Erbert, was having a medical emergency during their performance.
"We were on stage. We were on stage in front of 4,000 people, and we were at the end of the show, and she just was kind of doing this with her eye," Hough said on the Oct. 10 episode of the *Sibling Revelry With Kate and Oliver Hudson *podcast. "She's kinda, like, squinting" and "audibly was making discomfort noises."**** The *Dancing With the Stars* judge and his wife, whom he married in August 2023 after dating for six years, were performing a show on their Symphony of Dance tour in Washington, D.C., when she experienced a major health scare.
'DWTS' couple Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert are expecting their first child together
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Julianne and Derek Hough set aside differences amid his wife's health emergency
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"I thought it was her neck," Hough continued, "and so I'm protecting her neck as we're dancing, and we're just kinda keep moving forward and, you know, 'Show must go on' kind of thing and just protecting her. And then we're supposed to come out for this moment, and she didn't come out. And I was like, *That's weird.* And the stage manager says she's not coming out."
He went about addressing the audience, then found out later that she was struggling.**
"The irony of it all was that, in that moment, I'm talking about a friend of mine that passed away, and I'm talking about how fragile and precious life is and how it's fleeting and that we cherish the ones that we love; meanwhile, she's literally dying on the side of the stage."
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Derek Hough dances with partner Kellie Pickler on 'Dancing With the Stars' in 2013.
Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Erbert was having seizures and was soon rushed to the hospital, where she was found to have a cranial hematoma, meaning blood was collecting in her skull, and had to undergo emergency surgery.
Looking back, Hough recalled that the two had "hit heads really hard" at the beginning of their show, which was not unusual, but matched up with the type of injury Erbert experienced. They still don't know exactly what happened.
At the time, doctors had told Hough that, even if his wife survived her procedure, she "probably isn't going to be the same person that you know," because that kind of brain bleed and swelling causes conditions such as paralysis and speech impairment.
"But the crazy story about this — fortunately, she's here, we had these amazing triumphs — but, you know, I talk about that time, because it was the hardest time and one of the best times ever. All of a sudden, everything gets kind of wiped clean, and her getting up to go to the bathroom was the best day of my life. You know what I mean? It was like, 'This is the best day of my life.' And then her walking up the stairs was the biggest triumph I've ever felt."
In October 2024, Erbert was strong enough that she danced with Hough on *DWTS*' Dedication Night, where they received a standing ovation.
Hough also mentioned on the podcast that they've made a documentary about their experience, which they've just submitted to the Sundance Film Festival.
Listen to Hough's full conversation on *Sibling Revelry* above.**
Source: "AOL Celebrity"
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