‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judge Derek Hough Was ‘Pretty Surprised’ By One Celebrity Dancer (Exclusive)

Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough thinks it’s “anybody’s game” when it comes to walking away with the Season 30 Mirrorball Trophy, but he has been particularly surprised at one celebrity dancer’s prowess on the dance floor. Talking with PopCulture.com ahead of Monday’s episode of the ABC dance competition, Hough revealed that while YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli “wasn’t on the radar” for him pre-season, he’s been pleasantly surprised by her dances with her pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy.

“To be honest with you, at the beginning … you had those few people that you were looking out for them and all of a sudden I’m like, ‘Wait, [Olivia Jade is] really good,” he admitted. “She’s a great performer. She’s really charismatic. It’s very natural. But also just the technique is really good, and so I was pretty impressed. I’m pretty surprised by her.”

The level of skill all around this season has been “pretty high,” Hough continued, dropping the names of Jimmie Allen, Iman Shumpert, Amanda Kloots and JoJo Siwa as other major contenders this season. “Who knows what’s going to happen? Everybody’s so good!” he continued. “This is an exciting part of the season because this is where it gets competitive. … People that you might have thought were going to be in the final are being knocked out. So it’s going to be exciting.”

One person Hough was “bummed” to see go home was Spice Girls star Mel C, who was sent packing with pro partner Gleb Savchenko after Grease night despite her high score. “She’s just pop culture legend,  and so I was really bummed [to see her go],” Hough told PopCulture. “Man, she definitely went home too soon for sure, because she was super talented and super kind and just awesome.”

Hough has been loving watching the stars this season shake things up on the dance floor as he shakes things up in his kitchen at home with reimagined recipes through his partnership with America’s egg farmers and the American Egg Board. Creating Eggceptional Holiday Recipe Remakes like jalapeño cornbread stuffing to serve at his family’s first get-together in a “long time” over the holidays, Hough said he’s hoping to “bring back that comfort, that nostalgia” with a twist. 

“For me, it’s about how do we update these old recipes that we know and we love? How do we kind of push it a little bit?” he explained. “And I think we’ve all been cooking a lot [these] past couple years, so I think it’s fun for us to share with each other.” Spending time cooking with his girlfriend Hayley Erbert, Hough joked that his specialty is in the entertainment aspect. “If I’m stunting in the kitchen, I’m dancing — that’s what I’m doing,” he said. “So my girl, she’s cooking and I’m in the back just being a distraction, dancing around her. That’s pretty much my role.” 

Hough invites you to share your own holiday recipes by tagging him or @incredibleegg in your creations and using #EggceptionalHolidays. “It’s interesting for me because being a choreographer and a creator, cooking has kind of been a similar part of that,” he explained, “because it’s like you’re creating something and then you’re sharing it with everybody. So it’s been a fun little journey in the kitchen.”