Who Is Derek Hough's Wife? All About Hayley Erbert Hough (and Their Newborn Daughter!)
- - Who Is Derek Hough's Wife? All About Hayley Erbert Hough (and Their Newborn Daughter!)
Jordana Comiter, Nicole PomaricoJanuary 22, 2026 at 5:21 AM
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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert attend MPTF's NextGen Annual Summer Party on June 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. -
Derek Hough met his wife, Hayley Erbert Hough, in 2014
The professional dancers got married in August 2023
They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Everley, in December 2025
Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert Hough, are adjusting to their new lives as parents.
Nearly a decade after meeting in 2014, the Dancing with the Stars judge and the professional dancer got married in August 2023. In January 2026, the couple shared that they welcomed their first child, a daughter named Everley Capri Hough, on Dec. 29, 2025.
While talking to PEOPLE after Everley's birth, Derek described his daughter as a "beautiful ray of light."
“We’ve had so many moments in life that are not as great. So she’s our rainbow after the storm," Hayley said.
So, who is Derek Hough's wife? Here's everything to know about professional dancer Hayley Erbert Hough.
She is from Kansas
Derek Hough/Instagram
Derek Hough and wife Hayley Erbert Hough pose for a photo together in February 2024.
Hayley grew up in Topeka, Kan., per her Facebook. She attended Washburn Rural High School.
Though she now lives in Los Angeles, she still has some Kansas roots in her when it comes to sports teams. In February 2024, Derek posted a photo of his wife dressed in Kansas City Chiefs attire, while he wore a sweater that read "TEAM TAYLOR," a nod to Taylor Swift.
"One of us is from Kansas, the other isn’t. Can you guess who ?" he captioned the post.
She is a professional dancer
Ethan Miller/Getty
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Hough perform during Derek Hough's "Dance for the Holidays" tour on Dec. 20, 2024, in Las Vegas.
Like her husband, Hayley is a professional dancer. According to Brides, she has been dancing since she was 3 years old.
In 2013, shortly after she graduated from high school, 18-year-old Hayley competed on season 10 of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.
In an October 2020 video on their YouTube channel, Derek and Hayley looked back on old videos from her time on the dance competition show.
"I love watching you dance, it's like one of my favorite things ever," Derek told his wife.
Derek and Hayley met in 2014
David Livingston/Getty Hayley Erbert Hough and Derek Hough on Aug. 27, 2017, in North Hollywood, Calif.
The couple met in 2014 when Derek and his sister, Julianne Hough, hired Hayley to go on tour with them. Derek and Julianne passed her contact information off to a Dancing with the Stars producer, and Hayley joined the season 21 cast as a troupe member, while Derek was a pro at the time.
The pair began dating sometime during the season, which Derek won alongside celebrity partner Bindi Irwin.
Though they kept their relationship private for years, they went Instagram official in May 2017. On June 2, 2022, the couple announced their engagement, seven years after they began dating.
"It’s only the beginning…the beginning of forever ♥️," Derek wrote on Instagram.
They got married in August 2023
Hayley Erbert Instagram Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Hough.
Derek and Hayley tied the knot in Monterey County, Calif., on Aug. 26, 2023.
After the big day, Derek opened up to PEOPLE about how their nuptials changed their relationship, saying, "It's so interesting what a small sort of piece of metal can do to your whole persona and your whole outlook on everything, where all of a sudden it's sort of like, oh, I have this promise that I carry with me all the time."
He continued, "And to want to be a man to live up to that promise daily for that person and for yourself and for others, it's a powerful thing. It's a beautiful thing. So for me, I'm excited to continue to aspire to be that man each and every day for her, for our animals and for our future family."
Hayley added that she was looking forward to "dancing until the end of time together and loving each other until the end of time."
She went through a near-death experience in December 2023
Hayley Erbert/Instagram
Hayley Erbert Hough and Derek Hough.
In December 2023, amid their Symphony of Dance tour, Hayley became disoriented toward the end of the performance in Washington, D.C. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, and Derek announced on Instagram the next day that his wife had been diagnosed with a cranial hematoma "from a burst blood vessel" and underwent an "emergency craniectomy."
Later that month, Derek shared that Hayley underwent surgery to replace a "large portion of her skull" that was removed during the emergency craniectomy, which he wrote on Instagram was "successfully completed as planned."
By October 2024, Hayley returned to the ballroom when she and Derek performed an emotional duet dedicated to what they had experienced together. In a video package before their dance, Derek gave more details on what happened the night she was hospitalized.
"I was on stage, and she's supposed to come out. The stage manager walked out and just said, 'Hey, she's not coming on stage,' " he said. "She was on the side of the stage having full seizures and, essentially, dying. It's really hard to even put into words other than just pure fear."
A few days after their performance, Hayley shared a message of gratitude on Instagram, writing, "What a crazy, emotional year it has been, but being able to perform for you all with my beautiful husband last night, was beyond anything I even thought would be possible 10 months ago."
She also had a sweet message for her husband and duet partner: "Thank you my love, @derekhough, for the endless love and care you have given me throughout the entire journey. You have been my rock through thick and thin. I love you more than anything in this world ♥️," she wrote.
Derek dedicated an Emmy win to Hayley
Disney/Eric McCandless
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Hough on 'Dancing with the Stars' on Oct. 15, 2024.
In January 2024, Derek won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming for his work on Dancing with the Stars. During his emotional acceptance speech, Derek dedicated his win to his wife.
"Exactly a month ago, I was in the hospital," he said. "A month ago was a life-changing moment that reminded me to really cherish and savor every moment."
"I want to dedicate this to my beautiful wife," Derek continued. "I just flew in from Washington, D.C., last night. Your strength and your courage this whole month has been unbelievable. You inspired me every day."
They became parents in December 2025
Hayley Erbert Hough/Instagram
Hayley Erbert Hough and her daughter Everley.
In July 2025, the couple announced in an Instagram post that they were expecting their first child together.
The couple previously told Entertainment Tonight that their timeline for having kids was influenced after meeting Dancing with the Stars pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson's baby boy.
"There wasn't a rush on [thinking about kids] until we just met Val and Jenna Chmerkovskiy's baby, and that was when it was kinda like, 'Should we get on this now?' " Derek told the outlet in February 2023.
He recalled Chmerkovskiy saying, "Bro, for somebody who was created to create, this will be your ultimate creation."
The couple announced in a January 2026 Instagram post that their baby girl, Everley Capri, had arrived on Dec. 29, 2025.
Sharing the first photo of her tiny feet, Derek wrote, "Every step of our lives has led us to you. Our hearts have been cracked wide open and our world is forever changed."
After settling in with their baby girl at home, Derek and Hayley told PEOPLE they hope Everley will want to take dance classes in the future.
"We have friends whose kids love dance because their parents are dancers, and we have friends whose kids hate dance because their parents are dancers. So you never know," Hayley said.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
