Julianne Hough Says She and Brother Derek Got ‘Clean Slate’ After Hayley Erbert’s Health Scare

Julianne Hough knows there’s nothing like a health scare to make you realize what’s important in life.

Julianne, 36, told People on Tuesday, August 6, that she put aside any issues she had with brother Derek Hough after her sister-in-law, Hayley Erbert , underwent emergency surgery for a cranial hematoma in December 2023.

“Something happens and it just is like a clean slate,” she said. “Especially with what just happened with Derek and Hayley, there could have been little things just kind of looming or lingering in the background, but when you're left with life-or-death situations, nothing else matters. … Whatever little things of competition there are, or whatever it might be, those things just go away.”

Julianne and Derek, 39, are both members of the Dancing With the Stars family. Julianne was a professional dancer on the ABC show from 2007 to 2009, served as a judge from 2014 to 2017 and returned as a cohost alongside Alfonso Ribeiro in 2023. Derek, meanwhile, was a DWTS pro on and off from 2008 to 2016 and has served as a judge since 2020.

Julianne Hough Through the Years: From ‘Dancing With the Stars’ to Triple Threat

The siblings played big roles in each other’s weddings, and Derek hinted at their playfully competitive dynamic when reflecting on Julianne and Brooks Laich ’s 2017 nuptials. (The twosome later divorced in 2022.)

“It was perfection. And I’m like, ‘Shoot, I’m going to have to elope after this. There’s no competing with this wedding,’” Derek told People after the big day, adding that it was like “a Nicholas Sparks movie on steroids.”

Despite his jokes, Derek and Erbert, 29, tied the knot in a redwood forest in front of family and friends in August 2023. That December, Erbert was hospitalized after a performance of Derek’s Symphony of Dance Tour in Hollywood, Florida. Four months after her emergency craniectomy, Erbert returned to the tour alongside Derek in April. She celebrated the milestone via Instagram at the time.

“What a blessing (and surprise) it is to be able to be back on stage dancing with my love after such a crazy past four months. My healing journey has been nothing short of extraordinary and being able to dance again is igniting my soul in all the ways; speeding up my recovery even more,” Erbert captioned a video of herself rehearsing for tour. “I cannot wait for you all to see this show! It was so meaningful when we opened last year and now, after everything that has happened, it is truly even more special.”

Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert’s Relationship Timeline: From Dance Partners to Fake Proposals and Beyond

Julianne praised her sister-in-law’s “incredible” recovery while chatting with Access Hollywood in May and shared her plans to attend a Symphony of Dance Tour stop.

While Julianne has been there for Derek and Erbert amid the health crisis, she hinted on Tuesday that her relationship with her family is not always easy.

“The thing that hurts the most is when we're not connected," she said. "And so sometimes you do the thing that hurts the most, which is remove yourself because you're trying to protect yourself. Our family is like any other family. We have our situations and our s–t, but our deepest desire is to connect.”

Julianne added that she feels “blessed to have the family that I have” even if they don’t always “share the same beliefs or understanding of things.”