LOS ANGELES — Hayley Erbert Hough, the professional dancer and wife of Dancing with the Stars judge Derek Hough, survived a life-threatening brain emergency in December 2023 that required two major surgeries.
The medical crisis occurred while the couple was performing on their Symphony of Dance tour in the Washington, D.C., area. According to Derek Hough’s public accounts, Erbert became disoriented after a performance and was taken to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with a cranial hematoma caused by a burst blood vessel.
She underwent an emergency craniectomy, a procedure in which part of the skull is temporarily removed to relieve pressure on the brain. Hough later said doctors removed about 40% of her skull during the operation.
Erbert subsequently underwent a cranioplasty to repair the opening in her skull. Hough announced in December 2023 that the procedure had been completed successfully and described it as an important milestone in her recovery.
Her recovery progressed quickly. By April 2024, Erbert had returned to dancing and received medical support as she prepared to resume the Symphony of Dance tour. In October 2024, she returned to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom with Hough, performing together nearly a year after her medical emergency.
The experience later became part of the 2026 documentary The Symphony of Dance, which follows the couple’s tour and Erbert’s medical crisis and recovery.
Erbert and Hough have continued discussing the experience publicly, including the physical and emotional challenges surrounding her recovery. Their story has also become part of their family life, with the couple welcoming their daughter, Everly, in 2025.
Earlier Car Accident
In December 2022, Hough and Erbert were involved in a separate car accident on an icy mountain road. Reports at the time said Erbert received stitches above her eyebrow, while both were otherwise reported to be okay.
There is no reliable evidence in the sources reviewed for this article of a more recent accident involving Erbert. Her major publicly documented medical emergency remains the December 2023 brain bleed and subsequent surgeries.