Derek Hough

Derek Hough dated British actress and singer- songwriter India de Beaufort from 2000 to 2008.

In 2008, he met former model and actress Shannon Elizabeth. They were in a relationship for a year.

Derek Hough was born on 17 May 1985 in Utah, Salt Lake City. He was the fourth child of Marianne and Bruce Hough, who were dancers. His father was elected as chairman of the Utah Republican Party twice.

He has four sisters named Sharee, Marabeth, Katherine, and Julianne. Julianne also went on to become an accomplished dancer and choreographer. As a child, he participated in karate, acrobatics, and sports like football and basketball. He was introduced to fine arts by his mother.

He was 12 years when his parents separated; he was then sent to London to study under ballroom dancers Shirley Ballas and Corky Ballas. He spent ten years in London and studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where he received training in theatre, gymnastics, song and several dance forms including jazz, tap and ballet.

He, along with his sister Julianne and his tutors’ son Mark Ballas, formed a pop music trio named 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl"), to perform in dance competitions in the US and UK.

Between 1998 and 2004, Derek Hough participated in several competitions that took him to several foreign nations like Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, the US and Czechoslovakia. In 2002, he won the WDSF World Youth Latin Champion, as well as the Under-21 Latin title at the Blackpool Dance Festival in 2003.

Meanwhile in 2001, he made a guest appearance in the feature film ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone’. In 2006, he became a part of a theatre cast by playing the lead in ‘Footloose: The Musical’. However, he made his Broadway debut later in 2010 with ‘Burn the Floor’.

In 2007, he was one of the panelists on the reality television show BBC One's ‘DanceX’.

In 2007, he made his initial appearance at the Season four of the reality dancing show ‘Dancing with the Stars’, as a guest instructor. The same year, he joined the crew as a professional instructor for the following season. He was paired with actress Jennie Garth and the duo reached the semifinals during the season.

In season seven (2008) of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, Derek Hough appeared with model Brooke Burke. The pair won the season as well as the mirror ball trophy. In the following season of the show, he appeared along with rapper Lil’ Kim.

Though Derek Hough has donned several roles as a dancer, choreographer, actor, musician, singer and songwriter, he is best known as a dancer. He rose to fame with his stint in the reality television show ‘Dancing with the Stars.’