Even though siblings Derek and Julianne Hough were distanced from each other, the two came together during his wife’s health crisis.
Dancing with the Stars cohost Julianne says their differences didn’t matter when her brother’s wife, Hayley Erbert, fell ill. In December 2023, she suffered a cranial hematoma following a dance performance with her husband in Washington, D.C.
When Hayley underwent two brain surgeries, Julianne and Derek put aside their quarrel to support each other and Hayley. ‘Cause that’s what families do when there’s a crisis.
Together again
“Something happens, and it just is like a clean slate,” Julianne tells Life&Style. “There could have been little things just kind of looming or lingering in the background, but when you’re left with life-or-death situations, nothing else matters!”
The former DWTS pro dancer says that even though she and her brother work together, they are very different people. Like so many family members these days, the show host and her DWTS judge brother have differing “beliefs or understanding of things.”
“The thing that hurts the most is when we’re not connected,” the Utah native says. “So sometimes you do the thing that hurts the most, which is [to] remove yourself because you’re trying to protect yourself … Our family is like any other family. We have our situations and our sh*t!”
Reasons for their estrangement
Though some fans might be surprised to hear that the former dance partners have, at times, been distant from each other, a friend reports they are doing better now. I suspect one of the issues between them may have been Julianne’s coming out as “not straight” in 2019. Historically, the LDS Church (both Julianne and Derek were raised Mormon) has shunned openly gay people, though these days, they’re at least trying to promote an attitude of “compassion for those who struggle with same-gender attraction.”
“Make no mistake, it’s always been highly competitive between those two,” the source says. “When one of their careers is going better than the other … jealousies arise. There’s been bad blood between them in the past.”
As an example, the insider adds, “Honestly, I think Derek would rather be a host of Dancing than a judge, but Julianne got the gig.”
The friend also thinks Julianne was uncomfortable when her brother remained close to her ex-husband, NHL pro-Brooks Laich, after their 2020 split. Derek even asked his former BIL to serve as a co-best man at his 2023 wedding to Hayley. Now, that’s a little weird, I’ll agree. That would make me look sideways at my brother.
“It’s like they put up a wall between them,” the friend explains. “But to their credit, they’re working on it, really trying to be friends even more than blood relatives.”
I wish them well in healing their relationship.
Dancing with the Stars Season 33 premieres on September 17 at 8/7c on ABC.
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