Dancing's Derek Hough: I'm Really Impressed By Kellie

Hey there!

Thanks for your support and votes!

We've gotten so many comments about our jazz and we're so happy you enjoyed it. I thought it came out great. When I watched it back, I was even surprised by some of it. Kellie was really good. Her control and extensions are insane. People with dance experience, who've trained for years, can do that. You look at her and you think she must have dance experience. She doesn't, but she has dance ability. She has the capacity to be a good dancer. She's flexible and she's got a good arch in her feet. Now it's up to me to bring it out. So far, she's been doing a really great job. I'm just trying to do my best to showcase her in the best way. But it is pretty remarkable. I'm really impressed at how well she's doing so early in the season. The only bad part of the routine was when I got cut! Kellie's top was made of glass, so the edges were all sharp and part of it cut me and I started bleeding. So we definitely won't have glass outfits this week!

It's pretty crazy to get 9s in the second week. I was really happy with the performance. With the scores, I take them with a grain of salt. It's great, but it's also like, "Oh, crap! We can only go one point higher." Thank goodness for Len giving us an 8! The scores are important, but I really feel like people remember the performances. I doubt people really remember the scores of their favorite routines.

We have the jive next. It's a hard dance. It's a lot different from the jazz, which definitely played to Kellie's strengths. The jive is so fast and the technique in it is so difficult. There are a lot of different elements. This is the first week where the pressure's really on since we only have five days to do a routine going forward. It's tough because the jive is so fast, so that means more steps. There's more choreography within that minute and 15 seconds. You could do six steps in one second in the jive, whereas in the rumba, you probably do, like, two steps in five seconds.

The way I choreograph is I choreograph from the spot. I don't really come in with a routine ready to go and teach it to my partners. I like to create with my partner. I like to play with ideas. I could have an idea that I think it's great, but I could try it with them and they might not feel great doing it, so I like to experiment with my partner to try to maximize getting the best out of them.

It's also Prom Week. I never went to prom and Kellie never went to prom either, so I'm trying to figure out a way to ask her to prom. I'm nervous! I didn't go to prom because I grew up in England and they don't really have proms there. I was also traveling and competing, so I didn't have a normal social life. I didn't go to school parties and dances. I never felt like I missed out on that type of stuff. Now I get my first prom with Kellie!

We were all sad to see Dorothy withdraw. We had no idea she was going to. We learned with the audience. We were completely in the dark about it. I think it was a very mature and smart thing to do on her part. It's important to look after your health. That's it. Nothing is worth sacrificing your health. I love what the Dalai Lama said — it doesn't really go into her situation — but he said, "Mankind surprised me about humanity. Because we sacrifice our health for money and we sacrifice our money to gain back our health." You always have to put your wellbeing first. But it was obviously very sad that she pulled out. You never want anyone to pull out. I think only, like, four people have pulled out during the show from injury. We have a lot of injuries on the show of varying degrees and I think we all are used to seeing people push through on the show. Dorothy's an athlete and I think if she could, she would've pushed through, but it was too serious.

Jennifer Grey and I were very close to withdrawing many, many times. I had a doctor literally in a rehearsal saying to me, "You can do that move. You can't do that move. If you do that move and you drop her, she can be paralyzed." I was like, "OK..." No pressure, right? Actually on the very last show, she blew a disc in her lower back and she had surgery the next day after we won. We won a trophy and she's in the hospital getting surgery less than a day later. It was crazy, but we were so close to pulling out that season.

Luckily, my neck is OK so far. I'm taking care of it. I'm working out to create support around my bones and I'm eating better. It's amazing how eating prevents injury. People think it's a physical thing, but what you put in your body to feed your muscles and your bones is important. People wonder why they get sick when they eat fast food all the time and it's because there's zero nutrients in that food. It takes more energy to break down that food than it's giving you. That's why it makes you more tired and sluggish. I've been really trying to educate myself about food and what to put in your body and it's been inspiring. It's amazing how ignorant I was.

See you all on Monday!

Derek