Being in the public eye is incredibly difficult, and sometimes when they see you mess up they can be vicious about their criticism.
In a recent interview with his equally beloved and talented sister, Julianne Hough, famed dancer, singer, and actor Derek Hough, confessed his most embarrassing moment – one that was captured on live television and broadcast for the entire world to see.
The short series, crafted by People Magazine, is called “People: NOW Confess Session” and features prominent celebrities opening up about some of their very personal moments and sharing a whole new side with fans through the publication and their site.
In this episode, both Derek and Julianne ask each other questions from strips of paper that they’ve drawn and they answer accordingly. Derek was first up, with a tough and heartbreaking question that saw him expose a moment in his life that had a tremendous impact.
“What’s one thing you’ve done that’s most embarrassing?” Julianne reads from the first drawn question.
Derek opens up about something that happened during was his very first season on Dancing With the Stars, while he was partnered with famed Beverly Hills, 90210 actress, Jennie Garth.
As he explains, he was new on the scene and it was just the second week of dances they had performed in, when something terrible happened to them on the dance floor…
They were dancing during a quickstep routine and moving elegantly throughout the room, nailing every move with elegance and precision when they went for a flourish that would end terribly.
As Jennie Garth leapt toward Derek Hough on the floor, she grabbed his hands and he went to toss her underneath him. The goal was to have her pop right up on the other side, but something happened and he lost his balance midway – dropping her and bringing himself down to the floor, mid dance.
In the confessional with his sister, Derek speaks about the moment, saying, “Most embarrassing?….Dropping my partner live on television for my first season with ‘Dancing With the Stars’.”
He added that during a later showing of The View they discussed the embarrassing accident with ferocity, “I remember The View were all like ‘I can’t believe that boy dropped her!'”.
Obviously this moment has stuck with him for a long time if he still considers it his most embarrassing moment more than half a decade later.
The performance was stunning and they had worked incredibly hard on getting all their moves down, but sometimes things happen you can’t practice for and this simply was one of those “uh oh” moments.
We are happy that Derek didn’t let this change his decision to continue being on the show and we love seeing his performances!
Watch the video below for all the confessionals from both Derek and Julianne Hough!