‘Dancing With the Stars’ Icon Derek Hough Is a Whole Journey Junkie When He is Off the Dance Flooring — and He Instructed Us All About It

Whereas Dancing the the Stars icon Derek Hough is understood for his depth and keenness on the dance flooring, he simply so occurs to carry that very same vitality to his travels.

His most up-to-date journey? The dancer was in Iceland in August along with his spouse Hayley Ebert the place they hiked on glaciers, explored ice caves and waterfalls, went puffin watching, and even ventured inside a volcano.

“We love journey. We love occurring walks. We love nature,” Hough advised Journey + Leisure in a latest interview. “So our travels are all the time very lively. We’d hardly ever be like, ‘Let’s go journey and sit on the seashore and chill out.’ We’re extra ‘Let’s go discover this place! Let’s go see all the things that it has to supply.’”

Which incorporates tasting all of the meals.

“We’re attempting something and all the things, he stated. “I like attempting totally different meals, and I like spicy meals. I like spicy meals a lot.”

Nonetheless, even the adventurous traveler takes a little bit of warning and packs Pepcid Max Icy Cool Mint in case of heartburn after a spicy meal.

He even partnered with Pepcid as Hough talked about he takes it on a aircraft as the mix of the altitude and aircraft meals leaves him with heartburn. The peptide complement might also simply be his secret weapon on Season 33 of DWTS as effectively — the dancing professional joked that he retains some underneath the choose’s desk and shares it with fellow choose Bruno Tonioli throughout industrial breaks. 

Transitioning from dancer on the competitors present — after 17 seasons — to evaluate, Hough considers his new position to to be the most effective of each worlds.

“What I like about it’s it permits me to be a part of the present and to offer again to the present, and to offer my expertise, and my background to those contestants, but additionally it offers me some free time to do my different ardour initiatives,” he stated.  

A kind of ardour initiatives consists of his upcoming 40-city vacation dance tour, Dance for the Holidays, which kicks off on Nov. 1. He’ll be acting on tour via the tip of December whereas additionally flying forwards and backwards to Los Angeles to movie DWTS — which sounds exhausting, however Hough isn’t phased.

He says a routine of consuming proper, ice baths, bodily remedy work, and a few snacking on the sofa along with his spouse helps him keep balanced. He’s additionally tremendous excited as a result of Ebert will probably be a part of the vacation tour, which suggests extra time touring collectively.

“Going to the totally different cities is admittedly cool, particularly throughout the vacation season,” he stated. “All of the cities are actually charming they usually have the decorations up. It is such a beautiful time of yr to love to journey.”

To organize for the tour, Hough famous he is been deep into vacation music since July.

Although he has been part of many Disney Christmas tv occasions, together with Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade — which he co-hosted along with his sister, fellow DWTS alum and now host Julianne — that is his first holiday-themed dance tour. He says the viewers can count on new enjoyable takes on traditional songs like a Latinized model of “Winter Wonderland.”  He may also pay tribute to traditional dance legends.

“I all the time have somewhat like Gene Kelly second in my present,” he mentined. “We’ll have a homage. I will tip the hat to him.”

Having Ebert as a co-star on the tour may also be fantastic, Hough advised T+L.

“Touring with my stunning spouse, and performing along with her on stage is so particular, particularly throughout the season,” he stated.

Ebert, who had a cranial hematoma on the finish of 2023 and needed to have emergency surgical procedure, is recovered and prepared for the following journey, even when Hough is somewhat weary. As for his or her future adventures, Thailand and Vietnam are on the docket, swimming with the humpback whales in Tonga, and swimming with orcas — per Ebertson’s request.

“That makes me a bit extra nervous, however she needs to go, proper?” he stated. “I am like, ‘Woman, you are wonderful.’ She’s like, ‘Let’s go within the freezing, darkish, murky water with orcas.”