It was lucky No. 13 in more ways than one for Derek Hough. The three-time Emmy winner received his record-breaking 13th choreography nomination for his show-stopping routine to Michael Bublé‘s “Higher” on “Dancing with the Stars,” surpassing Debbie Allen as the most nominated choreographer in Emmy history. He found out via a phone call in bed and then his whole life started “flashing before my eyes” of all the blood, sweet, tears and “thousands and thousands of hours” he had put into dance since he was a kid.

“Choreographing was never something I thought about doing or being,” Hough tells Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “I don’t know what it’s like now, but when I was choreographing, there was no classes of like, ‘This is how you choreograph. You do this, you do that.’ There was no education of it except for just experience. So there’s a lot of trial and error of figuring out as you go along [but] a lot of it is also listening to your instincts and start trusting that process. … When I found that out, I went through all of that. Who would’ve thought? And I’m so, so thankful and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be able to create. There are so many great choreographers, there are so many great creatives who just incredible, and I’m just very fortunate that I’ve had this platform to create pieces.”

Hough performed the routine with the “Dancing” pros, with whom he hadn’t performed since his last season as a pro in 2016, and his fiancée, Hayley Erbert, on Michael Bublé Night while the singer crooned “Higher.” Michael Bublé Night, during which Bublé served as a guest judge, was also Hough’s idea. The six-time Mirrorball champ had directed the music video for “Higher” and was flabbergasted that “Dancing” had never spotlighted the Grammy winner and his ballroom-friendly traditional pop hits. “His music is so important to us that it makes sense that he was there,” Hough says. “When I heard ‘Higher,’ I was like, ‘This song is like a mini musical.’ It really has so many elements. It has the cha-cha, it has the tango feel, it has that drama. It has all these different elements that call for a big performance, that call for a production essentially. So for me, I was like, ‘I’d love to do that song.’”

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Because “Dancing” aired on Disney+ instead of ABC last season, Hough also didn’t have to worry about time constraints. The entire routine is three and a half minutes and he made a point to integrate Bublé into the number. “I said to Michael, ‘How do you feel about this being a dance piece? A performance and not an artist piece with the dancing in the background?’ [And] he was like, ‘Do your thing, man. I wanna see you do your thing, whatever you want. Whatever I can do to serve you, let me know.’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ There are not many artists that do that, by the way,” Hough recalls. “There were so many things about this piece that were special for me as far as Michael, who I love adore, dancing with my beautiful fiancée, who is incredible, and sharing the stage with these incredible dancers, who I’ve known for years and years and years. It was like a big reunion.”

He continues: “I’m very, very proud of this piece. There are some pieces, you know, you get nominated and you love and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ There are some pieces that you’re like, ‘You know what? I love this piece so much.’ And I really love this piece. I watched it back after I got nominated and I was like, ‘Oh, OK! OK, that happened.’ I was proud of it.”

Hough’s annual performances on “Dancing” have become a tradition since he became a judge in 2020, but he’s not sure if he’ll have time to do one on the upcoming 32nd season, which will be simulcast on ABC and Disney+, because he’ll be on his “A Symphony of Dance” tour this fall as well. He does, however, want to pay tribute to former head judge Len Goodman, who retired at the conclusion of Season 31 in November and died in April at 78 after a battle with bone cancer.

“The one thing in my mind I’m thinking right now that I would want to do that feels appropriate and feels right is I would love do something to honor Len, just something classic and reverent and appropriate,” Hough shares. “It’s up to the show and whatever they feel is right. But I know for me, when I think about something that motivates me or inspires me, last year it was Michael Bublé because I was working with him and that song really inspired me. But for this season, at least for me, the thing that inspires me is Len.”

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