'Dancing With the Stars' Judge Derek Hough Was 'Nervous' About Debuting His 'No Limit' Las Vegas Show (Exclusive)

Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough is taking things up a notch in Las Vegas with his No Limit show at the Venetian Las Vegas. The professional dancer opened up to PopCulture.com about his nerves debuting the show, which launched at the end of September and runs through Nov. 21. 

Traveling back and forth from Vegas to Los Angeles for Dancing With the Stars tapings is a lot, but Hough said No Limit has been "going great" with sold-out shows and "incredible energy" from the audience. Putting on a live show during the COVID-19 pandemic did give Hough pause, however, even with all the safety precautions in place. "I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous because it was an interesting time, you know what I mean?" he said. "So it's like, 'Hey, we're doing a live show.'"

Hough is "very, very proud" of the show he's put together, from the live music to the dancing. "It's kind of a crazy time, but the risk paid off," he continued. "It's been amazing audiences, incredible energy. I think this whole week is sold out pretty much. It's amazing." 

When he's not performing on stage or judging in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom, Hough has been shaking things up in the kitchen with reimagined recipes through his partnership with America's egg farmers and the American Egg Board. Creating Eggceptional Holiday Recipe Remakes like eggnog waffle cookies to serve at his family's first get-together in a "long time" over the holidays, Hough is 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 told PopCulture. "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 in the kitchen with his girlfriend Hayley Erbert, Hough joked that it's Erbert who takes the reigns. "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 said, "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."