Derek Hough got emotional while dedicating his Creative Arts Emmy award win to his wife, Hayley Erbert, who recently underwent two life-saving brain surgeries.
The professional dancer won the award for Outstanding Choreography for PvNew or Reality Programming for his “Higher” routine on “Dancing With the Stars,” which featured an ensemble of dancers including Erbert.
“Hi, wow, sorry. Exactly a month ago, I was in a hospital, so this is a different moment. I just wanna thank you, I love you all,” an emotional Hough began his speech Saturday night.
The “DWTS” judge, 38, then took a moment to thank people in his professional life before circling back to his wife’s hospitalization.
“Like I said before, a month ago, I had a life-changing moment, and it just reminded me how to really cherish and to really savor each and every moment,” he said while his voice continued quivering.
Hough started to tear up when expressing how he wants to “dedicate this” award to his “beautiful wife,” receiving a round of applause and support from the crowd.
“Your strength and your courage, this whole month has been unbelievable, and you inspire me every single day,” he continued while sniffling. “The way you accepted this moment, and you surrendered and your strength, and I just wanna say thank you all so much.”
The ballroom dancer later took to Instagram to continue his dedication speech and emphasize how his “world was shaken” in early December 2023.
“The contrast of that moment with this one couldn’t be starker,” he wrote in an Instagram post of him holding his award. “It’s a powerful reminder of how quickly life can change.”
Hough dedicated the award to Erbert once again and called her the “muse of this dance.”
Erbert also gushed about her husband and congratulated him in her own Instagram post on Monday.
“@derekhough, you continue to amaze me with your drive, brilliance, and commitment to excellence. I have loved being able to witness and be apart of your journey this far and cannot wait to see what else the future holds,” she wrote.
“I love you more than anything and am so unbelievably proud of you, today and always. ♥️.”
Hough and Erbert were performing their Symphony of Dance show in Washington, D.C., last month when Erbert “became disoriented and was taken to the hospital.”
The “Hairspray Live!” star later informed his followers that his wife of four months had been “diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy.”
An intracranial hematoma is a “collection of clotted blood that forms inside the skull after an injury,” according to Columbia University.
The couple has yet to clarify what injury may have caused the head trauma, but they did get into a “pretty scary car accident in the mountains” in December 2022.
Erbert underwent two surgeries that went “successfully,” and it appeared that they were able to make it home for the holidays later that month.
