Last week, Derek Hough injured both of his feet during a Dancing With the Stars rehearsal that jeopardized his road to victory. He and partner Nastia Liukin had been serious frontrunners. But with the injury sidelining Hough for the time being, it left fans wondering if Liukin could recover from the bad news. Fortunately DWTS pro Sasha Farber was on hand to replace Hough, and he and Liukin stepped their way to a 38 out of 40 on Monday night.
But they couldn't have done it without Hough, who despite his injury managed to include himself in the New York City subway-themed number. Not wanting to be left out entirely, Hough re-blocked and re-choreographed the dance to include some sitting subway riders — and he was one of them. He did some seated dancing in the background of the piece that just proved how professional he really is. Injury or not, nothing was keeping Hough off that stage.
Liukin and Farber have his choreography to thank for their high scores. The judges loved the imagination and the way Hough worked himself in. "It was unexpected," Bruno Tonioli said. "It was a revelation of a dance." It was so revolutionary that it earned Liukin and Hough immunity for the evening as they garnered the show's top score.
As for when Hough will return, nothing is set in stone right now, but things are looking good. "I'm doing better," Hough said. "I'm way ahead of schedule for recovery which is great." But, even if he can't dance any time soon, fans can rest assured that he'll be choreographing and participating in every way possible until he's back to 100 percent.
Image: Adam Taylor/ABC
