‘Dancing With The Stars’: Derek Hough Celebrates Jojo Siwa’s Same-Sex Dance Partnership

Derek Hough is celebrating Dancing With The Starsfirst same-sex couple featuring singer and dancer Jojo Siwa for the show’s 30th season. Siwa, who recently came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, will be paired with a woman dancer.

“For me, it’s not really a big surprise,” Hough told Deadline at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday after winning a golden statuette for Best Choreography for a Variety or Reality Programming for Dancing with the Stars. “After living in the UK for 10 years, all-girl competitions are very, very common. I’m very excited to see it.”

Hough also confirmed he’d be back to serve as a judge on the popular ABC reality competition series.

“Yes, I will be back,” he shared. “I have my residency starting next week at the Venetian so I’ll be flying back and forth five days a week.” (Watch video of Hough’s comments above.)

Other celebrities battling it out for the mirror ball trophy include Country singer Jimmie Allen, Spice Girl Melanie C, Christine Chiu (Bling Empire), Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills, 90210), Melora Hardin (The Office), Social media star Olivia Jade, Matt James (The Bachelor), Amanda Kloots (The Talk), Martin Kove (Cobra Kai), Gold medal Olympian Suni Lee, WWE Superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Kenya Moore (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Peloton star instructor Cody Rigsby, and NBA star Iman Shumpert.

Dancing With the Stars, hosted by Tyra Banks, returns live on Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Episodes will be available on demand and on Hulu the day following their premieres.