It was a day he’ll never forget. On December 6, 2023, just outside of Washington, D.C., while on their Symphony of Dance Tour, took the stage to introduce a duet that he and wife were set to perform in honor of the late Dancing With the Stars judge . “Ironically, I’m talking about how precious life is and how to savor this short time that we have here and the loved ones we have,” recalls Derek, who was waiting for Hayley to join him in front of the crowd for their routine. “And as I’m saying those words, not really realizing it, Hayley was on the side of the stage, having seizures and essentially dying.”
Earlier in the show, unbeknownst to everyone, Hayley had suffered a near-fatal cranial hematoma. “I just remember being on stage,” she says. “I do remember being in a lot of pain… [but] I remember dancing, and then my world just went black.” Still in her costume, Hayley was rushed to a nearby hospital where she underwent an emergency craniectomy, removing 40 percent of her skull, in a desperate attempt to save her life. “I was told… she might not survive, and even if she does, she most likely won’t be the same person,” shares Derek. “That was a devastating moment. When people say your whole world comes crashing down, I think it’s accurate because it really feels like that. The room just falls on you.”
Hayley never stopped fighting. And, through the power of love and determination, she’s made nearly a full recovery. “It was one of the most difficult times of my life,” Hayley, 30, says, explaining that she was “relearning how to live.” She knew she had two options: “I could [have sat there] and just been ‘poor me’ all day long, every single day. But I was like, no — there’s so much beauty in this life still. And I want to live for it.” Going forward, she and Derek, 39, plan to make every moment count — no matter how big or small. “We are truly gonna be so present,” adds Hayley, “and appreciate life so much more.”
As they kick off their 38-city holiday tour, Derek Hough Dance for the Holidays, which runs from now until December 29, the couple sits down with Us to share the emotional details of Hayley’s health scare, her brave recovery and why facing the biggest challenge of their lives during their first year of marriage ultimately brought them closer together.
I truly believe dance is so healing. So I love going out on the road, but I especially [want] to thank everybody for their support this entire year, because it’s been… It’s been a wild journey.
I’m more nervous! Even before all this, I got nicknamed “Grandpa Hough” because I’m a little bit of a worrier.
I listen to my body, and I also listen to the doctors, but they’ve all said, [I’m] good to go; so I’m excited for it.
There weren’t any signs. I was really tired, but we’d just been on a red-eye flight from the [season 32] Dancing With the Stars finale. I napped a bit, but nothing was alarming.
It was in the middle of the second act; I just got an excruciating headache. I was like, it’s OK, I’ll deal with it after the show. And I pushed myself until my body was like, nope, you can’t do this anymore.
I remembered this specific number [and] doing this dance. Derek was like, “No, you did two after that, too.”
Yeah, it’s unbelievable. I was like, “You danced two full dances after that and didn’t miss a step.”
I must have just been on autopilot. The muscle memory must have been so insane that my body continued even though I wasn’t there.
Eventually a stage manager came on and told me that Hayley [wouldn’t] be coming on, but they didn’t tell me why. So I just kind of vamped a little bit, and we went into the final number. And then I ran to find her. I just knew that something was off because of the agony she was in. Then, she started talking sort of gibberish and saying things about the night before. One of her eyes was dilated, the other one was pinpoint. I knew something was very wrong.
[I didn’t know] the severity until after the CT scan. I just fell to my knees. It was hard. [Derek fights back tears.] I remember being in the room with her alone. She was sort of unconscious, and her breathing became almost nonexistent. That’s one of the things that happens because when the brain swells up, there’s nowhere for it to go except down the spinal cord. And that’s where the breathing happens. I remember running out and telling the doctors to come in. Eventually, they had to put a tube down her throat.
You go from these crazy highs, being at the DWTS finale and all this celebration and amazingness. And then we go on stage in front of 4,000 people and loving what we’re doing. And then being in the hospital and frantic and just adrenaline and emotions and fear. [Derek pauses, fighting back tears.] After all that hecticness from the past two days, I remember going to a hotel room and just closing behind me and being in this quiet, empty room. And then, it just hits you. [Hayley rubs Derek’s back to comfort him.] It was crazy.
Honestly, her. It was Hayley. I remember calling [my sister] because I was hysterical, and she kind of calmed me down, and she goes, “You need to talk to her.” [Derek fights back tears as his voice gets shaky.] She said, “Put on something that’s soothing and beautiful and just talk to her while she’s in surgery.” And that was the only moment I felt a sense of control. I was like, “OK, I’m here with you.”
I mean, obviously having him by my side, and our family and our friends. I remember Derek said [to me], “Honey, there are so many people thinking about you. There’s so many people sending you love and prayers.” And that was actually the first time that I started crying. I remember just bawling my eyes out and saying, “You didn’t even have to tell me that. I can feel it.” I felt this sense of overwhelming love and light; it was one of the most spiritual experiences I’ve ever had. It was beautiful, and I believe that’s really what carried me through.
I had two in total. The first one was to remove my skull to cauterize the bleeding and allow my brain some space to heal. It swells first, so they needed to remove my skull. Then [once it came] down, we… put in the implant. They weren’t able to save my actual skull, so I have an implant inside of my head.
They ended up removing about 40 percent of her skull. So basically, almost her entire right side.
All my family was down at the bottom of the bed. My parents are divorced, and I saw both of them and I was like, “What is happening right now?” I was very confused! Derek was the first person that was like, “You just had a huge surgery. And they removed half of your skull.” He was [also] the first person to tell me that they had to shave my head. And funny enough, I did just get a haircut by one of my friends, and I was like, “[I] just cut my hair like that!”
There was like this gasp of just relief. Like, she’s OK. It’s her.
Hayley was the one who kept us strong. It was so devastating, but she kept making these strides… Oh, she’s making jokes! Oh, she’s being sassy! And then, oh, she’s gonna stand up! It became like these moments of just pure joy. Even the smallest little things, like stepping over a tissue box, [were] like [a] sense of just excitement.
I was pretty much in pure survival mode. I knew I had to be back to normal. I was like, this is my only option. But then, even more importantly, I wanted to dance again. Dance is my life. It always has been. I’ve been dancing since I was 3 years old, and it’s what has brought me so much joy and love. It literally brought me my husband. I was like, I have to dance again.
Three of my best friends flew in, both of my parents, his dad, obviously Julianne. Even in the recovery process, it was never just the two of us.
Julianne really stepped up to help find us a place to live. We were planning on living [in D.C.] for three to four months because that’s how long [her] procedures were going to take. Hayley’s mom was [also] amazing showing up.
I always say I feel like I’m 98 to 99 percent back to what I was. There’s some things here and there, but minor things. Nothing that will hinder me from just doing what I do in everyday life and my career. It truly is a miracle. And I’m so grateful to be able to do what I love still.
There was a time that we went and performed for [her] doctors in person. And they go, “It was a gift for us to see this because we don’t really see many [of] these happy endings [in] this severe of a situation.” And [one] doctor was like, “It’s a miracle.” And I was like, “Oh, yeah, it is.” And he grabbed me and said, “No, Derek, this is a miracle… for what she had. Like, you don’t understand.”
It was a feeling that I’ve truly never felt on stage before. There aren’t even words for it. It was incredible.
When she walked out on stage for the first time…. man. She walked out in this beautiful red dress, and she just kind of like, appears. That was always in the show, [but it] happened to fit perfectly with what had just happened, too. The response was just overwhelming.
I’m a very stubborn person, so I was like, I will get back out on that stage. But of course, there’s always fear [and] doubts that creep in. For a few months, I couldn’t be physical at all, so it was just a matter of me envisioning it every single day, being like, “I will be out there.”
When it initially happened, the last thing I could think about was ever dancing again. So, it was like such a healing process even to hear her desire. It helped me be like, OK, maybe we can dance again, and maybe dancing can be healing. There’s so many different layers to it, you know?
I remember seeing my friend who’s a filmmaker. I said, “I think we’re going to start trying to see if we can dance and go in the studio.” And he goes, “Can I come film that?” So he started filming us rehearse a bit, and he kept coming back. Then Hayley was like, “I want to do the tour.” He ended up filming the whole process — getting back out on the road to the rehearsals, being on stage, footage from backstage, all the ups and downs. We have this beautiful piece that’s really special we can look back on.
That’s the hope. We’re kind of finishing that up.
I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason — which I still don’t even know if I know what the reason was. [Laughs.] But it happened and there’s a greater lesson in all of it. You just have to figure out what that lesson is. I’m still figuring that out!
Absolutely. I mean, even just little moments. This year we’ve gone on some incredible trips because we’ve always wanted to. Like, why wait? We’re never guaranteed tomorrow. It really puts everything into perspective when you go through something like that.
One of the things that we learned from this experience was — which Hayley was just an amazing example of — [is] finding the beauty in little things. You hear that a lot, to be grateful and focus on what’s good. But to actually see her live that [way] was really, really inspiring. It was that sort of [thing] where the more grace you acknowledge, the more grace you’ll experience.
It really did strengthen us. He was my caretaker. He’d get up every night to put on my helmet and walk me to the bathroom. It was incredible to watch him step into that role. It just made me love him and appreciate him even more.
We’ve been put to the test — real quick. But also, everybody’s going through so many different types of things. Sometimes, they don’t have those happy endings we’re so blessed to have. So there’s a sense of gratitude, but also a sense of compassion.
We have so much more life to live. Do we have anything massive planned aside from this tour? No, but it’s kind of the beauty of it.
It’s a big show and we’re excited about that. But I think we’re also excited about next year, just planning new adventures and new things.
This is like the most intricate choreography we’ve done. The dancers are so talented. The music is fantastic. We’re able to reimagine…some classics, like a Grinch Argentine tango or a salsa Winter Wonderland. The costumes are amazing. Haley really played a big part making things look fantastic.
That’s my favorite part. It’s the cherry on top of everything.
It really has it all. I mean, we have our friend Michael Bublé doing a bit of narration as well.
It’s amazing. And you know, dance is so big in Utah. It’s one of those places that appreciates dance at a different level. I mean, 80 percent of the DWTS cast is from Utah!
Something really special about this tour is that in every city, we’ve invited a local studio to come dance with us. [And] in Salt Lake City, one of the nights, the studio that [Derek] grew up going to is actually going to perform on stage. That’s gonna be so fun.
Of course, it’s going to be an emotional time for me, and for him. [But] I’m not really stressed. It’s going to be beautiful to be out there and be like, this is exactly where it happened.
Honestly, I’m looking forward to it. I think it will be a moment of healing and closure — and a moment of triumph.
For more on Derek and Hayley, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.
