“Dancing With the Stars” head judge Derek Hough has accomplished so much in life. However, he considers being a father his greatest achievement to date.
He and his wife, Hayley Erbert, welcomed their daughter in December 2025. Now that the little girl is seven months old, Derek Hough is reflecting on how much his life has changed — for the better.
In a new interview, he admits that being a father has overtaken his entire personality.
Derek Hough Admits He Regularly Goes Into Dad Mode
On social media, fans have enjoyed watching Derek Hough share Everley’s big “firsts.” She rode in her first airplane to the Tribeca Film Festival this spring. During a break from the Symphony of Dance Tour, Derek and Hayley took her into the pool for the first time.
Overall, Hough loves being a girl dad and it’s impacting other areas of his life.
“Honestly, the most dad thing I’ve done hasn’t really been with Everley necessarily,” the professional dancer shared with PEOPLE. “It’s been more with my dancers or something like that. I’m like, ‘Hey guys, make sure you go to bed early tonight’ and doing things like that.”
Everley just celebrated her seven-month milestone and is changing every day. Her parents simply can’t get enough.
“She’s crawling now, and she’s moving fast. She’s just so alert, and her laugh is my favorite sound in the entire world,” Hough told the outlet. “And oh my gosh, her smile is literally everything. It just changes my chemistry. It really does.”
However, Derek Hough admits his wife has to remind him to slow down and enjoy everything.
“I can’t wait to go to the park with her and do this. I can’t wait for this,” the DWTS judge admitted, sharing that his wife Hayley reminds him to stay in the moment. “She goes, ‘Hey babe, let’s just change our language to we’re excited because it goes so fast. We can wait for those things.’ And I was like, ‘You know what, honey, you’re right.’”
Baby Everley Joined Her Parents on Their Summer Tour
The Houghs knew they wanted to take baby Everley with them on tour. Thankfully, she’s an excellent traveler.
“For tour, I can probably take everything I need in a little duffel bag because I essentially wear the same thing every single day,” the 41-year-old revealed. “But with her, we literally have suitcases and bags and diaper bags and high chairs and bouncies and floor mats, an entire rug to put into the venue.”
“We went from a little duffel bag to bringing our entire home,” Hough quipped.
Touring with an infant can be challenging, but Derek and Hayley Hough feel blessed that Everley has adjusted so well to the chaos. But the biggest surprise of all is watching each other grow into parents.
“The biggest surprise for me really is just loving something so much,” the professional dancer added. “I love seeing Hayley step into being a mother. She’s such a wonderful mom and such a natural.”
“I’m just in awe watching her maneuver and know things and just have instincts about things. I’m just enamored by that. I really am. It’s really impressive and just really beautiful,” he told PEOPLE.
Derek Hough returns when “Dancing With the Stars” season 35 kicks off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15 on ABC. There will be a second episode the following night on Wednesday, September 16, on the network.
