- - Meet Baby Everley! Derek and Hayley Hough Introduce Daughter After Health Crisis, Miscarriage: 'Rainbow After the Storm' (Exclusive)

Brianne TracyJanuary 21, 2026 at 5:00 AM

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Derek and Hayley Hough open up about their journey to welcoming their newborn daughter Everley in this week's PEOPLE cover story

The couple call Everley their "rainbow after the storm" after experiencing a difficult past three years, which included recovering after a serious car accident, Hayley's health crisis and a miscarriage

The two discuss their hopes and plans for this next chapter as parents

Tears have been flowing at Derek Hough and wife Hayley Erbert Hough’s Los Angeles home ever since they welcomed their daughter Everley Capri on Dec. 29 — and, shockingly, the newborn hasn’t been the main source.

"Literally every time I see Derek and Everley together, I just start crying,” Hayley tells PEOPLE during her and Derek's at-home cover shoot on Jan. 13.

Derek has been feeling just as blissfully sappy. When he went to the Golden Globes on Jan. 11, his first event since becoming a dad, “everybody was asking me, 'You going to the afterparties?’ ” recalls the Dancing with the Stars judge and Extra host. “I remember saying it out loud for the first time: ‘No, no. I’m going straight home to my daughter...and now I got to go because I’m about to cry.’ ”

It’s been a long-awaited period of joy for the two professional dancers after what Derek, 40, calls a “traumatizing” past three winters. First, in 2022, the couple were involved in a serious car accident that required Hayley, 31, to get four stitches in her forehead.

A year later Hayley was rushed to the hospital mid-performance on their Symphony of Dance tour and nearly lost her life after a burst blood vessel caused a brain bleed. She had to have about 40 percent of her skull removed to relieve the pressure and later a second surgery for a skull implant.

Around the same time the following year, Hayley miscarried.

“She’s been through so much,” Derek says of his wife, tears welling up in his eyes. “To see her go from where she was to now, giving birth, is amazing. My daughter has a great example here.”

Related: https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf

With Everley’s birth, Derek says he and Hayley are also able to “rewrite the story of this time of year” so it’s defined not by their tragedies but by their blessings.

“We’ve had so many moments in life that are not as great,” Hayley says. “So she’s our rainbow after the storm.”

Adds Derek: "She’s literally this beautiful ray of light."

Ari & Louise

Derek and Hayley Hough with baby Everley

The couple got married in 2023 after meeting nearly a decade prior when Hayley performed on Derek’s dance tour with his sister Julianne Hough.

“Everything we’ve been through has created this foundation that is so strong,” says Hayley. “Derek describes it as like a tree — the roots are so deep into the ground that no wind could shake us.”

Now they’re opening up about their journey to welcoming their “perfect” daughter — including her intimate home birth — and their hopes for this next chapter.

PEOPLE: What have these first two weeks with Everley been like?

DEREK: Where do we even begin? She’s changing every day.

HAYLEY: I already find myself grieving this current stage. I’m going to miss it so much. It breaks my heart, but I’m also postpartum and hormonal. Derek more than me, actually.

DEREK: There are so many times where I’m just quietly looking at her and tearing up. I said this to my family: “Hayley was meant for this.” She is such a natural mother. There was a moment early on where I was, honestly, afraid to hold Everley because she’s so fragile and little and delicate. I got overwhelmed, like, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And I gave her back to Hayley and just walked away. It was a moment where I felt like, “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

HAYLEY: I had to reassure him that we’re all figuring out this new life.

PEOPLE: How tired are you both right now?

HAYLEY: Everley is actually a great sleeper. Last night she did a full five-and-a-half-hour stretch. I was like, “Are you okay?” But she can do those stretches because she’s gaining weight well.

DEREK: Hayley’s superpower is that she can sleep anywhere. Before Everley was born, I was like, “I really hope she gets that from you, babe.” So far, she has.

Ari & Louise

Derek and Hayley Hough with baby Everley

PEOPLE: Speaking of passing things down, the consensus on-set is that Everley looks like a mini Derek.

DEREK: When we found out we were having a girl, I envisioned a mini Hayley. When Everley came out, eyes wide open, I was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s definitely me.” I was honestly like, "Grandpa?"

HAYLEY: They all come out looking like grandpas.

PEOPLE: What was the home-birth experience like?

DEREK: We had candles everywhere, beautiful music playing. To be in the room during Hayley’s labor, holding her...She just became power. I was in awe the whole time. I was like, “Damn. Y’all women are badasses.”

HAYLEY: It was really so special.

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Derek Hough and his wife Hayley and new baby Everley shot at home for PEOPLE on Jan. 13, 2026

PEOPLE: How was your pregnancy with Everley?

HAYLEY: I am very fortunate because I had a decently easy pregnancy. I didn’t really have any morning sickness. I had some food aversions, but I felt really at peace. Anytime I would feel a movement, I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, babe, this is wild." I felt like I had a little alien inside of me. Everley does these karate kicks when we're changing her. I was like, "That's what was happening inside of me." It's really cool to be able to see it now in real life.

PEOPLE: Having been through a miscarriage, did you change how you told people about this pregnancy?

HAYLEY: Absolutely. We didn’t share publicly until we were almost 20 weeks pregnant. I didn’t have a whole lot of symptoms in the beginning, I was feeling so good, so I got really scared that something happened. It really freaked us out. When we were on our adventures, we tried to live life to the fullest because we knew it’d be the last year of just the two of us. But when we’d get home, we’d do a scan just to make sure everything was still okay.

PEOPLE: Hayley, is there anything health-wise you still have to keep on top of now after your surgeries?

HAYLEY: Honestly, I’m always looking out. If I get a headache, I instantly have some, like, PTSD where I’m like, “Is this going to go away?” Because it all started with just a headache. But there’s really nothing that I have to be aware of or be on the lookout for. It’s just living life.

DEREK: One of the first things Hayley said when she came to after her surgery — missing half of her skull, face swollen — was not, “Am I going to be able to dance again?” It was, “Am I able to have children in the future?” The doctor was like, “Yes, of course.” And here we are.

Hayley Hough/Instagram

Derek feeding Hayley in the hospital after her surgery

PEOPLE: When you first met, did you know right away this would be something special?

HAYLEY: Definitely not.

DEREK: No. I was like, “Oh, she’s cute, but she would drive me nuts.” But that’s the beauty of our relationship — it wasn’t instant. It wasn’t obvious until we went through these experiences where it was like, “Whoa. This is unique.”

HAYLEY: Yeah, it’s created such a deep relationship. Never in a million years did we think that we would ever be here. It’s wild how life can twist and turn and take you to a whole new place.

PEOPLE: Have you figured out yet how you’re going to balance work and life as parents?

HAYLEY: Derek goes back to work soon.

DEREK: I call Extra my dad job. I go in the morning, and I come home in the afternoon. But then the goal is to go back out on our Encore tour in June. Hayley really wants to go out and dance and perform. Knowing her, she will.

HAYLEY: It’s going to be interesting to balance, because Everley will be with us. We will see if my body is ready to do the whole show. Maybe I’m just in a number. Who knows?

PEOPLE: Hayley, would you ever return to DWTS full-time? (She was a troupe member from 2015 to 2019 and has danced with Derek, a pro turned judge.)

HAYLEY: Never say never. Lots of my friends have gone back after having kids, but it’s a little difficult with him being a judge. Might be a little bit of a conflict of interest.

DEREK: I’d be overly hard. I’d be like, “Two.” Then I’d be like, “Babe, I love you. I’m so sorry.” People always say, "Oh, man, do you guys ever get sick of each other? You work together, you tour together, you dance together." And you no, we don't.

HAYLEY: We have our moments in rehearsals.

DEREK: Of course. But it really is such a joy. We're so thankful that we get to do what we love.

Eric McCandless/Disney/ABC

A year after her craniectomy, Hayley made a triumphant return to the 'DWTS' ballroom with Derek

PEOPLE: Will Everley take dance classes?

DEREK: Of course. Not that she has to be a dancer, but dancing is such a great way to learn about your body and work on coordination, confidence, community.

HAYLEY: We’ll see if she’s a little dancer. We have friends whose kids love dance because their parents are dancers, and we have friends whose kids hate dance because their parents are dancers. So you never know.

DEREK: I can’t wait for her personality to come through.

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Derek and Hayley Hough with baby Everley and their dog, Luna

PEOPLE: Do you envision more kids in your future?

HAYLEY: There’s a saying that your first one makes you want a million children, and your second makes you feel like you have a million. So I’m like, "Okay, good to know.”

DEREK: I know, because after this we’re like, “All right babe, let’s go! Let’s go.”

For more on Derek and Hayley Hough and their baby Everley, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE on stands Friday.

on People

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