PLUS: The Dancing with the Stars judge reflects on what it's like working with sister Julianne for Season 33
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00:00Now it's the sit down with Derek Hough.
00:01Hi, Derek.
00:03It's officially Dancing with the Stars season.
00:05The premiere was so promising.
00:07How cool is it that we have contestants
00:08fresh off the Olympics?
00:10It's amazing.
00:11It's so crazy to think, like, you know,
00:13to kind of think about what their life has been like,
00:16you know, recently.
00:16Like, what a whirlwind.
00:18We didn't know who Alona was or Stephen was.
00:21And then all of a sudden, now that these massive superstars
00:24who have been so successful at the Olympics
00:25and now they're on Dancing with the Stars
00:27and other things, it's pretty awesome.
00:29It's pretty cool.
00:30I want to ask you about some of my personal frontrunners.
00:33I love watching, but I don't know much about dance.
00:35So tell me why you think they each stand out
00:37to me on the dance floor.
00:39Yeah, let's check it out.
00:40Dwight Howard.
00:41My guy's got more charisma and energy
00:44than anything I've ever seen.
00:45All right, the party's here on the west side.
00:49Stephen Neterozic.
00:50I mean, adorable?
00:51Is that the wrong word?
00:52But you kind of, like, you watch and you're just like,
00:54oh, he's so adorable.
00:56Don't stop me now.
01:00Phaedra Parks.
01:01Oh, I love Phaedra.
01:02I mean, she's just, you just can't talk to her
01:05without being like this, you know?
01:07You just, oh, you know.
01:10I love her.
01:11Every time I see her too, just like in the hallway,
01:13I just like, I just, she's fantastic.
01:21And your sister is co-hosting again this season.
01:23Do you spend even more time together
01:25because your coworkers again?
01:26I'm picturing production lunches, carpooling.
01:29You know, it's funny, at least on like show days like that,
01:32it's weird.
01:32We have two different tracks.
01:34Like they're like her and Alfonso are doing like their thing
01:36and the judges were doing our thing.
01:38So we actually don't see each other a lot.
01:39Like on show days, weirdly, we find time to go see each other,
01:43to say hi and stuff, but it's awesome.
01:45It's so great to be able to work together.
01:47And we've had such parallel careers for so long.
01:49It's good because we're able to be there for each other
01:51and to sort of, you know, help each other out
01:53with certain things or give each other advice.
01:55So yeah, it's cool, man.
01:56It's great.
01:57You're an Emmy winner, best-selling author,
01:59husband, performer, judge.
02:01How do you possibly chill at the end of a busy day?
02:03Well, honestly, I just go home and I just, you know,
02:05snack and stream, you know, like everybody else.
02:07Like, you know, eat my snacks and, you know,
02:10watch my favorite show.
02:12I love popcorn, but sometimes popcorn doesn't love me.
02:14So it's sort of manage that heartburn that can happen.
02:19You know, I rely on Pepsi Max Icy Cool Mint.
02:22It's, uh, it works fast.
02:24It lasts all night, unlike antacids, which is great.
02:27So I kind of call that the way I would like.
02:30It's like chilling with Pepsi, you know, at night.
02:32It's how I do it.
02:34Here are people, Mag.
02:35We are so happy Hailey is in good health
02:37after that scare last year.
02:39Seeing her get back to your Symphony of Dance tour
02:41was so inspiring.
02:43Now that you've been through such a scary time,
02:45what are your words of wisdom for anyone out there healing
02:48or watching a loved one healing?
02:50It's really hard to do.
02:51And it's, and it sounds really, um, like a,
02:55like an Instagram quote or something like that,
02:57but really trying to stay in the moment,
03:00staying present.
03:01And that's so much easier said than done.
03:02And it sounds like such like a phrase.
03:04One of the things that I really learned from Hailey
03:06during that time that she helped me with, honestly,
03:10was she was just in the moment, you know,
03:12she wasn't focusing on like what, you know,
03:15what's going to happen, what's in the future, you know,
03:18um, it was just about what can I do right now
03:22that's going to, you know, help them or even help myself
03:26and just staying present.
03:27Because I think that the worry and the fear comes from
03:32worrying about what's, what's to come,
03:34what's going to happen, you know,
03:36um, that's where a lot of the fear happens.
03:38And so I think that staying sort of in the moment,
03:40which is not easy to do, but listening to things,
03:44you know, get some support, you know,
03:46listen to some podcasts,
03:47listen to things that are going to help you
03:48get you in the right state of mind
03:50to put yourself in the right state.
03:52Um, that's going to help that person heal,
03:54help you heal.
03:55Um, I think it's important.
03:58You two recently attended an Emmys after party.
04:01Talk about a special date night.
04:02Do you enjoy the glitz and glam,
04:04or are you counting down the seconds
04:05so you can come home and change into sweats?
04:07You know, I will say this,
04:09definitely in the earlier days, you know,
04:10you're out until you're out all night,
04:12so two in the morning, you know,
04:14we're definitely like go to those sort of events
04:18and we just eat all the food, you know,
04:19like at that particular party,
04:21there was like a Thai food.
04:23There was a big shop.
04:24There was those sushi rolls.
04:26There was pizza.
04:27There was, it was like Epcot around the world,
04:31but in food.
04:32And my beautiful wife, you know,
04:34she, she finds it.
04:36She's like, okay,
04:37we're going to go eat all the food now.
04:39Okay.
04:39We're going to put 10 seconds on the clock,
04:41promote any one of your upcoming projects.
04:43Ready?
04:44Go.
04:44Dance for the Holidays,
04:46November 1st to December 29th.
04:48I'm going out on the road.
04:50It's going to be amazing.
04:50Amazing dancing, amazing music,
04:52costumes, lighting, choreography.
04:55It's going to be the most festive,
04:57just incredible time.
04:58I got Michael Buble, you know,
05:00narrating the show.
05:01It's going to be fantastic.
05:03Derek, thank you so much for being here.
05:05I appreciate you so much.