Did Derek Hough Perform on Dancing with the Stars? Watch Him Explain His Injury

The pro still found a way to be part of the show despite his broken toe and sprained ankle

By Lauren Piester Apr 28, 2015 2:00 AMTags
Derek Hough, Mark BallasInstagram

Derek Hough breaking his toe might have been the best thing to happen possibly happen to DWTS.

Just kidding. It was totally terrible, but Derek, his partner Nastia Liukin, and Nastia's new temp partner Sasha Farber made the best out of an unfortunate situation with a pretty killer routine.

Not only did they have a totally awesome subway set to work with, but they also had Andy Grammer sitting right there and performing "Honey I'm Good" live as they danced.

Derek was clearly frustrated as he explained his injury, complete with actual footage of the big event, in which he accidentally kicked a light so hard that he broke his toe. Then, on the way to get ice for his toe, he rolled his ankle so badly that he sprained it.

Watch him describe his injury below:

Derek was still as hands on as he could possibly be in the creation of this week's performance, though he had a lot of trouble not dancing. 

"Not being able to use my body properly is very frustrating," he said over footage of him lying on the floor. 

"It's impossible to keep him still," Nastia added.

It's also apparently impossible to keep him off the dance floor, because Hough managed to incorporate himself into the dance pretty creatively by making everybody sit down for a while before eventually standing up (on one foot) to sing along with Andy Grammer.

It was pretty cool, and the judges agreed.

"So many elements were there that surprised me continuously," said Bruno Tonioli. "It was a revelation of a dance."

The judges awarded Nastia and Derek (and Sasha) 38 points out of 40, and since that was the highest score of the night, they were also awarded immunity.

In the post-dance interview with Erin Andrews, Derek was totally optimistic about his injury and his future on both the show and Broadway.

"I'm way ahead of schedule with recovery, which is great," he said. "I'm doing everything I can. By the time I hit tour, I'll be 100% good to go. It's going to be an amazing show."

Watch a clip of Nastia, Derek, and Sasha's dance below.

Check out our full recap of tonight's Dancing with the Stars here, then head to the comments to tell us what you thought!