Watch Derek Hough's Wife Hayley Triumphantly Returns to 'DWTS' Following Her Near-Death Experience

It was Dedication Night on Dancing with the Stars and it wasn’t just the nine remaining couples who honor influential figures/institutions in their lives but also judge Derek Hough , who returned to the dance floor with his wife Hayley Hough , following her near-death experience.

As part of their return, Derek made a video package, which begins, “With all of my heart, I love you, Hayley,” with footage from their August 23 wedding.

Then he continues, “It was kind of a crazy time because there was so much happening. We were newlyweds. I had just married the woman I love. The finale of Dancing with the Stars just happened, and Hayley and I were heading back out on the road on the final leg of the tour, living out our dream on stage with the person we love. Then it all just came to a screeching halt in the most devastating way.

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“I was on stage,” he continues. “She was supposed to come out and the stage manager came out and said, ‘Hey, she’s not coming out.’ She was on the side of the stage having full seizures and essentially dying. It’s really hard to put into words other than pure fear.”

Related: All the Songs and Dances for Dancing with the Stars for ‘Dedication Night’

Hayley was rushed to the hospital, still in her costume, where Derek received devastating news from the doctor. Hayley required an emergency craniectomy.

“The doctor came to me and said that she has a severe brain bleed, so we have to operate right now. He said that she might not make it and that even if she does make it, she won't be the same person.”

Hough recalled laying on the hospital floor by her bed and begging her not to die.

"The next morning when I saw her, she was missing 40 percent of her skull. She was unrecognizable. When they took the tubes out of her mouth when she was strong enough, she said, 'What happened weren't we just dancing?'

"I can't begin to tell you just knowing that she was in there the relief I felt," Derek emotionally recounted. "She was Hayley. She was my wife and our journey began—learning to walk again, building her strength back up. Not having a skull for a couple of weeks and walking around with a helmet was hard. I was struggling. But every time I walked in that room seeing that smile on her face, I was so impressed by her strength. She is my beautiful miracle."

Backstage after their dance, Hayley told Parade and a few other outlets, "As a couple, I will say that Derek was my rock through it all. I was going through one of the toughest times in my life and I couldn’t be physical, I couldn’t be active, and he was nurturing, my savoir throughout that entire thing. It really strengthened us as a couple, and it was truly beautiful to see him step into that kind of role at such an important time in our life. I truly believe it brought us together as a couple even stronger."

In the video package, Hayley had revealed that she is a very stubborn person, so when she heard that the tour was going to go out again, she thought, “I will be a part of that in some way, shape or form, so I really got my mentality into, I’m going to heal for this. I will heal for this."

And despite the doctor's telling her that it was going to take several months, Hayley did it in less.

"I was dancing post-op four months on tour in the same role that I was prior to that," she said. "Was I 100 percent? Not really, but I was feeling good enough and I trusted my body to let me know if I would not be okay."

The devastating health event took place in December 2023. At that time, Derek posted on Instagram: “At the end of last night’s tour performance in Washington, D.C., my wife Hayley became disoriented and was taken to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy. She is in stable condition.”

Happily, Hayley recovered, and this past August, the couple celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary with this post:

"1-year ago today I married my beautiful wife @hayley.erbert . This past year has been a journey filled with so many challenges, blessings, difficulties and triumphs. Through it all, your grace and beauty have shone brightly, reminding me every day of how blessed I am to walk this path with you. But above all, this year has been a testament to the power of love—our love. Love truly conquers all. Here’s to many more years of facing life together, with love leading the way. I love you more than words can express. Happy Anniversary ❤️"

Now, less than a year following her surgery, Hayley, a former member of the dance troupe, is dancing once again and tonight makes her triumphant return to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom following her near-death experience.

Also backstage after their performance Derek and Hayley shared that they will be revealing more of what the journey was like in documentary form.

"I obviously captured a lot in the healing process of her journey," Derek said. "But then we’ve been working with an amazing team. It wasn’t planned. I said, 'Hey, we’re going to get back in the dance studio and start dancing,' and he said, 'Can I come shoot that?' He’s an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jason Berg. He’s a good friend. He just started shooting it and he kept coming back and kept shooting and kept coming back. He went on tour with us and shot that. The struggles and the difficulties. So many different things. It turned into something so beautiful."

Next, Derek Hough Weighs in On Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars