DWTS' Derek Hough: Too Burnt Out for Another Season?

Hottie hoofer admits, "I can only choreograph so many routines in my head before I break down and explode"

Derek Hough says he's not sure if he'll be returning to Dancing With the Stars next season. But he's also in the tango trenches at this very moment, trying to win that darn disco-ball trophy.

"You think to yourself, 'Gosh, I don't know how I could do another season,'" Hough told me earlier this week while rehearsing with Nicole Scherzinger. "But then you get three months off and by the end you're like, 'I'm ready to go back for another round.' "

Hough admits that things got really bad last week…

"I can only choreograph so many routines in my head before I break down and explode," he said. "What they didn't show [in the weekly pretaped video] is me kind of breaking down. I was like, 'Oh, man! I don't think I can do this. My mind is just about to explode and I'm overwhelmed.' "

Fortunately, Scherzinger waltzed to the rescue. "She's fantastic," Hough said. "She becomes my cheerleader."

Hough also told me that his sister, Julianne Hough, is ready to come back after taking a break to concentrate on her country music career and to film her first major feature, Burlesque, opposite Cher, Christina Aguilera and Kristen Bell. "She told me she kind of misses Dancing a bit," he said. "It's a possibility."

And what would any story be these days without asking about Betty White? So, does Hough think the 88-year-old funny lady should pull a Cloris Leachman?

"Hell, yeah!" he said. "I'm not sure if she'd be as crazy as Cloris, but I'm definitely ready for Betty."