Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Derek Hough was tied up by his ankles and had a gun put to his head while being “tormented” by childhood bullies.
The 41-year-old Dancing With The Stars professional dancer grew up in Sandy, Utah, where he was targeted by thugs at his school and in his neighbourhood, partly due to him being a dancer.
He said on The Bossticks podcast: “Being a dancer didn’t help. I would get the crap beaten out of me.
“At one school a kid punched me in the face, I was bleeding everywhere.
“But then I retaliated and started beating him up and then I got expelled from school.”
Speaking about being targeted in his neighbourhood, he said: “They would, like, hang me up in a tree by my ankles and put a gun to my head and spit on me or hogtie me in a field and it was… I was scared.”
The horrific treatment left a young Derek “scared and constantly on edge”.
He added: “I was a scared kid. I was a terrified kid.
“Scared of the dark. Scared of my shadow. Just, scared and constantly on edge.”
But, fortunately, he found solace when his parents sent him to live in London when he was 12 years old, to study with dance coaches Corky and Shirley Ballas, who is now head judge on UK reality show Strictly Come Dancing.
Derek – who has five-month-old daughter Everley with his wife, Hayley Erbert – has recalled feeling “safe” in the English capital city, and he was pleased to have “a goal” while honing his craft.
He added: “It was interesting. Once I was there, I felt… it was like I was on track.
“You know, and I felt safe. I actually felt safe being away. I felt like I had a goal, I had a vision. I knew what I was doing.”
Derek, who was schooled at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, remained in London for 10 years, despite initially intending to stay for just three months.
His sister, dancer and singer Julianne Hough, later joined him in London and trained at the same school.
