If you ask Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough, the lower scores during the season 35 two-night premiere are actually a good sign.
“I think it’s changing the value of the numbers,” Hough, 41, exclusively told Us on Thursday, September 17, while promoting his partnership with Huggies. “It’s going to be a little bit of a shock to the system because it’s the first week and stuff, but for me, my hope is that over time, if [a contestant gets] a 5, you’re like, ‘I got a 5.’ Like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I got a 5’ versus like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s insulting. Oh, my gosh, that’s crazy.’”
Hough and fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli didn’t hold back while critiquing the season 35 cast’s first routines during the two-night DWTS premiere on Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16. Both the competitors and fans alike were immediately shocked to see scores of 3s and 4s across the board. (Guillermo Rodriguez earned a total score of 10 — one of the lowest in the show’s history — while Tatyana Ali received a cumulative 12.)
“It’s not a reflection on them, [but] it’s a reflection on the hope to change the value of what a number means,” Hough explained to Us. “I think when you actually look at the score, you look at where everybody ended up being placed. When you actually look at it, it felt pretty accurate.”
While Rodriguez’s partner, Witney Carson, told Us on Tuesday that their low score felt especially “lame,” Hough sees the number differently.
“To be honest, it’s good for us as … judges, [so we’re not] working with two numbers,” he stressed. “I mean, now we actually have some numbers to work with throughout the season. And now when somebody gets an 8, it’s going to mean something. I think that that’s really important.”
Despite handing out low scores on the premiere, Hough was impressed by the “talented” and their “amazing strengths.”
“They’re all capable of having big growth,” he continued. “When we see those [high] scores, it’s going to mean something.”
Along with his DWTS commitments, Hough is celebrating new milestones with his 8-month-old daughter, Everley, through his Huggies partnership.
“When I heard about the idea of Huggies First, it got me really excited to experience all the firsts with my daughter and then to really relish in them and to enjoy them and to realize how special it is to have those firsts and then to sort of encourage and to share that with other parents as well,” said Hough, who shares his daughter with wife Hayley Erbert. “It’s been some of my favorite moments of my life. I mean, when she laughed for the first time, there was a time of my life before she laughed and then there was a time of my life after she laughed. My life changed forever.”
Hough further gushed that working with Huggies “felt like a really good fit.”
“They have amazing products, [like] their Huggies Little Movers and their wipes, and it’s been wonderful and, of course, they’ve been around for so long,” he added. “It’s just an established company, but also what they do and what they represent, it’s really beautiful.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
