Derek Hough and Best Friend Mark Ballas Break Gender Norms in DWTS Finale with Their ‘Sexy’ Argentine Tango

Derek Hough and Mark Ballas rounded out this season of Dancing with the Stars with a bang!

In a special performance, Hough took the stage with his best friend on Nov. 26 for the season 33 finale of DWTS. The final competition saw Bachelor star Joey Graziadei, former NFL pro Danny Amendola, actress Chandler Kinney, Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher and Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik compete for the top spot.

The DWTS judge and pro dancer gave a special Argentine tango performance to “Libertango” by Tango Bardo. Before hitting the ballroom floor, they explained that the traditional dance became popular for men to perform together due to the gender imbalance in Argentina in the late 1800s.

Afterward, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro approached actor Seann William Scott, who was in sitting in the crowd for his reaction to the dance. The Shifting Gears star called the performance “sexy.”

Hough and Ballas’ dance comes on the heels of the return of Hough’s wife, Hayley Erbert Hough, to DWTS.

Nearly one year ago in December 2023, Hayley sustained a cranial hematoma while dancing on tour. She was hospitalized and underwent an emergency craniectomy.

Hayley returned to the show on Oct. 15, and danced to Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” alongside her husband.

Hough and Ballas aren’t the first same-sex couple to dance together on the show. In 2016, Nyle DiMarco teamed up with Keo Motsepe in season 23 for a routine set to “Habanera” by Georges Bizet. The duo became the first same-sex couple to dance together on the show.

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In 2021, Jojo Siwa and Jenna Johnson made history as the first all-female pair to compete on DWTS. The Dance Moms alum and pro dancer gave an energetic foxtrot performance for their first dance of season 30.

Season 33 of DWTS is now streaming on Hulu.