Derek Hough Biography

Summary

"Derek Hough" (pronounced "huff") (born May 17, 1985) is an American dancer and choreographer. A former world champion in Latin-American Dance, he appeared on Season 5 of the ABC television series, 'Dancing with the Stars' with actress Jennie Garth (earning 4th place in the competition), and was eliminated during the 7th Week of Season 6, earning 6th place with actress Shannon Elizabeth. He has returned for Season 7, this time partnered with Brooke Burke. Hough has also been featured in the track "Dreaming Under The Same Moon" of his sister, Julianne Hough's self-titled debut album.

Biography

Hough was born in 1985 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1998, along with his sister, Julianne Hough, he moved to London to further their dance training.

He attended and subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. On this foundation, he built a career, which has included professional competition, television work, and roles in the West End Theatre.

Hough played the role of Ren McCormack in both the UK Tour and the West-End run of "Footloose the Musical". His moves in routines including "Can't Stand Still" and the show's finale particularly impressed audiences at Aldwych's Novello Theatre, where "Footloose" ran from April until November 2006.

Before this, Hough's theatre work included playing the lead in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Millfield Theatre, and dancing in the company in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" at the London Palladium.

Almost Amy

He and Mark Ballas started a band called 'Almost Amy' in 2005. His band consists of 5 people :-

Mark Ballas - Lead Vocals and Guitar

Derek Hough - Lead Vocals and Guitar

Emily Grace - Keyboards

Sam Marder - Bass Guitar

Harry Sullivan - Drums

Dance

Hough is a former IDSF World Youth Latin Champion (2002) for Poland with Aneta Piotrowska. He has won the LA Outstanding Dancer of the Year and the New York Dance Alliance Outstanding Dance awards.

Hough is one of Bruno Tonioli's panelists on BBC One's "DanceX", the first episode of which aired on July 14, 2007.

He was on season 5 of "Dancing With The Stars" and was paired with Jennie Garth. Hough and Garth competed in the semi-finals and were the 9th couple eliminated from the competition. He competed in season 6 of "Dancing With The Stars", this time paired with actress Shannon Elizabeth. On April 29, 2008, Hough and Elizabeth were the 7th couple eliminated from the competition.

For season 7 Hough is partnered with Model/TV host Brooke Burke.

His three season average dance score on Dancing With The Stars as a professional is 26.29.