Derek Hough: My dad disapproved of sexy dancing
The American dancer-and-choreographer loved strutting his stuff from an early age. He can now be seen partnering Ricki Lake on the thirteenth season of Dancing with the Stars, but his father wasn’t too sure about his chosen career when he was growing up.
The star describes his upbringing as sheltered, and his father was strict about how to behave in public.
“We did grow up in a very kind of religious background. I remember my dad saying, ‘We’ll be having no pelvic thrusts,’ because I was doing Elvis impersonations. But now I’m making a living doing pelvic thrusts,” Derek laughed to ET.
The star’s younger sister Julianne Hough is also a professional dancer. Both of them have won Dancing with the Stars in the past and Derek is incredibly proud of what Julianne has achieved.
She isn’t involved with the current version of the show as she’s focusing on other projects – the star appears in the upcoming remake of Footloose.
The siblings spent time in the UK when they were growing up which brought them close together. Derek, 26, feels protective of his sister and is pleased she’s found such a good boyfriend in American television host Ryan Seacrest.
“I really looked after her and became the older brother/dad. I’m much for protective of her than anyone else,” he explained.
“[Ryan’s] an outstanding guy. We've had a chance to get to know each other better, and he's a great guy.”