Derek Hough, 34, may not be done with Dancing With the Stars for good! The dancer, who left the hit ABC show in 2016, is not ruling out the possibility of returning to the ballroom. In fact, we may very well see him waltzing, cha-chaing and tangoing on DWTS in the future. “There’s no plans, no plans right now,” the World of Dance judge shared with a number of reporters, including HollywoodLife on day one of the Creative Arts Emmys, Sept. 14. “But I never say never. I love the show. It’s great. So I know there’s a lot of anticipation coming up, because it’s been a year gap and the cast has been intriguing, I should say. A lot of curiosity to see what happens.”
Despite not dancing this season, Derek still had some thoughts on the contestants. When asked about what he thought of former Trump White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer‘s, participation on the show, he offered some vague words on the series’ casting choice. “It stirs the pot. It draws attention,” Derek said about Sean’s participation. “We’re curious, right? We’re just like, ‘What’s going to happen? How are we going to react?'” After Sean’s first dance on Sept. 16, during which he donned a ruffled green shirt, he received some of the lowest scores of the night with a 12/30 from the three judges. Those scores and audience voting will reveal whether he will make it through to the next week after the Sept. 23 week one elimination episode.
As for Derek, the professional dancer already has more than enough Mirror Ball trophies to brag about from his time on the show. The first season the dancer won was in the show’s seventh with celebrity partner Brooke Burke. A few years later, he went on to win season ten with Pussycat Dolls frontwoman Nicole Scherzinger, followed immediately by a season 11 win with Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey. After a four-season-long dry spell, Derek came back to win season 16 with country singer Kellie Pickler, with another back-to-back win in season 17 partnering with Glee star Amber Riley. Derek’s last season where he took home the mirror ball trophy was season 21 with Australian wildlife conservationist and daughter of the Crocodile Hunter, Bindi Irwin.
Already, just one week in, season 28 of DWTS has not been short on drama. Just days before the taping of the season’s first episode, Christie Brinkley was forced to withdraw from the competition due to an arm injury. Her daughter, Sports Illustrated model, Sailor Brinkley-Cook, took her place, earning a respectable 18/30 score from the three judges during the premiere. Dancing with the Stars returns Sept. 23 at 8 pm on ABC.