Hayley Erbert & Derek Hough Talk Potential of Her Returning to ‘Dancing With the Stars’ After Craniectomy

With her medical scare behind her and a new baby in the household, Hayley Erbert and Derek Hough are thinking about the future. Specifically, the talented spouses are mulling the possibility of Erbert returning as a dancer on Dancing With the Stars.

“Never say never,” Erbert told People recently. “Lots of my friends have gone back after having kids, but it’s a little difficult with [Hough] being a judge. Might be a little bit of a conflict of interest.”

Hough, a pro dancer-turned-judge on the ABC reality competition, told the magazine he might be “overly hard” if he were scoring his wife’s performances: “I’d be like, ‘Two.’ Then I’d be like, ‘Babe, I love you. I’m so sorry.’”

Erbert was part of the DWTS dancing troupe from 2015 to 2019. In 2023, she suffered a cranial hematoma while she and Hough were traveling the country on their Symphony of Dance tour. During that medical emergency, Erbert received an emergency craniectomy to relieve the pressure in her brain.

Nearly a year later, in 2024, Erbert was well enough to join Hough on the DWTS floor for a “Dedication Night” dance routine.

Erbert and Hough welcomed their daughter, Everley, on December 29, and now, as she and Hough prepare for their Encore dance tour this June, Erbert is enjoying motherhood.

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“That was the only thing that I saw in my future, and so now that it’s here, I’m like, ‘I just want to relish in it, and I’ll figure out the work eventually,’” she told People. “But I do know that I want to dance. I want to keep moving. We will see if my body is ready to do the whole show. Maybe I’m just in a number. Who knows?”

Erbert’s comments echo her TV Insider interview in December, in which she said her focus was on her and Hough’s growing family.

“I’ll always have so much love for the DWTS family, and this past season was amazing to watch,” she explained at the time. “If the timing and the circumstances ever felt right in the future, I would absolutely be open to stepping back into that world in whatever way made sense.”

Dancing with the Stars, Season 35, TBD, ABC & Disney+

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