Professional dancer Derek Hough is back on Dancing With the Stars for season 29, this time joining the judges’ desk rather than competing as a pro. The six-time mirrorball winner is in a long-time relationship with his girlfriend Hayley Erbert.
The couple has been together for over four years, and they have spent plenty of time together both on-screen and off-screen. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they appeared together during the Disney Family Singalong, both in parts one and two. They’ve also begun working out together more often during the pandemic, and they post videos on YouTube and TikTok.
Hough, 34, said that being quarantined with Erbert, 25, has been great, though he realizes that it could be tougher for other couples.
“Being cooped up with my girlfriend, it’s been great,” He told Us Weekly at the end of March while noting that some couples are going to be “like, ‘OK, I don’t know if we’re for each other’” and it’ll bring some closer together.
He revealed that he and Erbert were part of the latter group, saying the time at home had “definitely brought us closer together and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Derek Hough & Hayley Erbert Are Still Together and Started a YouTube Channel Together
In August 2020, Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert started a YouTube Channel titled “Derek & Hayley’s Dayley Life,” where they post new videos every Thursday.
Videos include talking about their lives and throwbacks to vacations as well as cooking videos. In episodes they dubbed “Haylz Kitchen,” they share recipes for foods like ciabatta bread, vegan rocky road ice cream, Catalan chicken with Spanish green beans and s’mores yumminess.
According to the description, the channel is to show “A life filled with adventure, dancing, cooking, love, and some light-hearted fun,” and viewers are invited to join them “on this new journey!”
Hough & Erbert Met On ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Erbert and Hough both competed on Dancing With the Stars in 2015, though they were not partners on the show. Erbert had also worked for Derek and Julianne Hough’s Move Live! tour in 2014.
Entertainment Tonight first romantically linked Hough and Erbert in 2015, and Hough spoke to the outlet in 2017 about his hopes to get married someday. He’s just waiting for the perfect time to get engaged.
“I want to marry once,” he said at the time. “I want to be with that person that I love dearly. I want to get to know that person. I feel like, if anything, it’s something that I don’t feel like should be rushed into doing at all.”
He also said that he would like to be a father one day.
Erbert recently shared birthday wishes for Hough, writing, “Happy Birthday to my love, my best friend, my rock, my everything. I love you so very much! I celebrate you today and every single day.”
She has also been a part of his workout videos on his Instagram page, where they share their workout routine with their followers.
The couple has more than one pet; they have two cats, a dog, and have recently adopted a puppy named Luna as well after joking earlier in quarantine that they would not be part of the “quarantine baby boom,” though they were considering adding to their family, saying that it was the perfect time to add a dog to their family.
Is Derek Hough Back on Dancing With the Stars?