Derek Hough gave Us some insight about how the new Dancing With the Stars pro is going to shake up next season
“I think it’s gonna be a nice treat for fans of the show,” the DWTS judge, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Disney upfronts on Tuesday, May 12. “It’s gonna be, like, an insight to see what it takes to be a pro and dance with the stars in different ways.”
Ahead of the DWTS season 35 premiere, the spinoff, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, will air on ABC. The show will feature 12 dancers competing for a chance to become the newest DWTS pro. Current mirrorball champion Robert Irwin will serve as the host while Mark Ballas and his mom, Shirley Ballas, will be the judges.
Hough, who has been close friends with the Ballas family for years, shared he is “excited” for the people to get to know Shirley.
“Shirley Ballas is an absolute icon in the ballroom, in [the] Latin [ballroom] world, she is the best,” he gushed. “And so she’s also like my mom.”
Shirley, 65, is known in the ballroom community as the “Queen of Latin” and currently serves as the head judge on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in England. Hough added that he was also once trained by Shirley.
“I’m excited for America to meet her,” he said. “She’s a riot.”
Last month, Disney dropped the trailer for Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.
“For the first time in Dancing with the Stars history, the greatest dancers will compete for a spot as the next pro,” Irwin, 22, said in a trailer. “This summer, let the fiercest dance battle begin.”
While fans await for both DWTS shows, three contestants have been announced for season 35. Summer House’s Ciara Miller and Love Island’s Maura Higgins were the first batch of stars announced. Earlier this week, Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson was added to the mix.
Hough gushed to Us that the season 35 cast is “fantastic” so far and there would be “more to come.”
“I have some connections here and with some of these people,” he teased. “It’s gonna be a good cast, [a] really good cast.”
The pro dancers for season 35 have yet to be announced. However, Miller is already lobbying for a particular partner.
“I’ve been campaigning for Val [Chmerkovskiy],” Miller told E! News during the Met Gala livestream in May. “I don’t know if they hear me, but yeah, sending out some emails, putting my word in. We’ll see where everyone wants to place me.”
