The recent injury suffered by Derek Hough, one of the professional dancers still in the running for the crown in Season 20 of Dancing With The Stars, left a lot of fans and followers of the show wondering whether this could indicate the end of the journey for him and Nastia Liukin. However, Hough wrote a detailed letter published in TV Guide that indicate otherwise.
Apart from describing his condition and how he ended up badly injuring himself, Hough took the opportunity to appease the worried viewers about his health.
"The good news is I'm healing quickly," he shared. "I don't need surgery or anything. I'm already off the crutches, which is really good. I've been doing physiotherapy and rehab, and it's very promising," he added.
Hough went on to say that he is "just trying to be careful" since he still has a lot on his plate this year. "I just want to make sure I'm 100 percent in shape. I talked to my physio and he said, 'There's gonna come a time where you feel good and you feel like you can dance. But remember you still have a tear in your ankle and a broken toe,'" he revealed.
"I'm trying to be smart and intelligent about it and make sure I truly am feeling good. It's one thing if you heal something like this and you're just going about the day, walking again, but dancing is a different beast. You twist and turn and jump and flip. It's a whole different level of recovery that you need to achieve," the pro dancer wrote.
Hough also used the letter to remark on the rumors regarding his departure from the show.
"Withdrawing was never an option," he adamantly asserted. "Dancing with the Stars is not about me or any pro. It's about the celebrities. It's their journey. I'm part of the journey, but it's not my journey," he explained.
The dancer shared that he aims to give his partner, Liukin, "the best possible chance of winning."
"You know, she makes it look easy, but we put the work in. You see some of it, but I think a lot of people overlook the amount of work we put in and how much goes into putting together a routine and teaching and learning it. She's a very hard worker and very determined, and I definitely feel like she can go all the way. There are other factors in play, but I feel like she can win," he elucidated.
"He's at the studio, he's definitely involved in all of the rehearsals," disclosed Kym Johnson in an interview with E! News. "He' still choreographing it, sitting down, explaining what he wants. He's still part of the team, he might be back. I'm not sure!" she added.
