Derek Hough Is Facing off Against ‘Dancing With the Stars’ at the Emmys

Derek Hough has been nominated for an Emmy Award. The nominations for the 74th Emmys ceremony were unveiled on Tuesday, and Hough was nominated for his ABC special, Step Into… The Movies With Derek and Julianne Hough. In a wild twist, his nomination will see him facing off against Dancing With the Stars. 

Hough and his collaborator Tessandra Chavez were nominated for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming for their work on Step Into… The Movies With Derek and Julianne Hough, which aired in March. They’re going to face some stiff competition in the category from Annie Live!, Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3, and The Oscars telecast. Interestingly enough, Hough will also be up against his other place of work, DWTS, which was nominated in the same category. 

Hough celebrated his nomination on social media by posting some behind-the-scenes clips from the production. He captioned the post by writing, “Wow wow wow!!!! So thankful to share this beautiful nomination with my dear friend and brilliant @tessandrachavez . And a huge congrats to all the Nominees.” The professional dancer continued to share his excitement over the nomination, which he noted was the first one that he received for being an executive producer. 

“So thankful to @josephcmcqueen and @nickrosenmusic for creating this track from scratch literally the night before with the incoperable @msamberpriley on the stellar vocals,” Hough wrote. He continued to share his gratitude to those whom he worked with on the ABC special, including his fiancée, Hayley Erbert, adding, “And of course the breathtaking @ashley_gonzo @charity_dance and my muse @hayley.erbert with their stunning performances and patience while I constantly changed things up until the day of filming.”

Dancing With the Stars racked up yet another nomination in the choreography category in advance of a major shift for the series. After 30 seasons, the series is heading to the streaming service Disney+. The news of this change was announced in April. Going forward, episodes of DWTS will air live on Disney+ and they will not re-air on ABC. Kareem Daniel, chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution said about the news, “The show’s broad appeal, as well as the overwhelming popularity of its Disney-themed competition nights, make Disney+ the perfect home for Dancing With the Stars while continuing to expand our demographic reach.”