Derek Bruce Hough is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. From 2007 to 2016, Hough was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition series Dancing with the Stars, winning the show a record-breaking six times with his celebrity partners.
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Meet Mariann Hough and Bruce Robert Hough
Hough grew up the fourth of five children in a Latter-day Saint family in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He is the son of Marianne and Bruce Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party and has four sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, Katherine, and Julianne.
All of his grandparents were dancers, and his parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college in Idaho. He is the second cousin of musicians Riker, Rydel, Rocky, Ryland Lynch, and Ross Lynch from R5; their maternal grandmothers are sisters.
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When Hough was 12, his divorcing parents sent him to London to live and study with dance coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas. Hough’s sister Julianne joined him in London several months later. Originally intending to stay for three months, Hough remained in London for ten years (Julianne returned after five years).
The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark Ballas, schooling them at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. They received training in song, theater, gymnastics, and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet, and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G (“2 Boys, 1 Girl”) and performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased UK television shows.
Hough subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. As well as being trained in many forms of dance, Hough can also play the piano, guitar, drums, and bass.
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