Partner – Maria Menounos
Television Host, Actress, and Journalist
DEREK HOUGH Season-by-Season COMPARISON CHARTS. Click here.
Derek and Maria’s Dance Scores – Scroll to bottom
Statistics and Trivia prepared by @donamadrina
WEEK 1
• Derek and Maria, in their stunning royal blue costumes, were the 1st couple down the DWTS staircase and the 1st to dance for the new season.
• In Seasons 5 & 8, Derek also danced 1st.
• The sexy duo danced a well-choreographed Cha Cha. This dance has been Derek’s 1st dance 4 times before.
• Derek and Maria earned a respectable 21, setting the tone for higher scores for the rest of the night.
• Derek and Maria found themselves tied for the 2nd lowest score of the night, tied with 1 other couple, but the night was full of amazing dancing.
• Three couples were below them, with a score of 20. Eight couples were above them: 2 tied at 26, 1 at 24, 4 tied at 23.
• Derek earned the score of 21, in Week 1, with 3 of his former partners; two went on to dance all the way to Week 9 and one to Week 7.
• This is stacking up to be a very highly competitive season. Here’s to Derek and Maria dancing all the way to Week 7 and beyond. 
WEEK 2
• Dressed as masked bandits, Derek and Maria’s high energy Bonnie and Clyde themed Quickstep was a crowd pleaser.
• Bruno said their dance was “nearly spotless”; he and Carrieann complimented Maria’s frame, Bruno saying, “That’s a frame we can frame.”
• Len praised their balance, speed and control.
• Derek and Maria’s Quickstep was amazing, especially considering that Maria danced with injuries from the prior week’s rehearsal.
• Maria ripped her intercostal muscles (between the ribs) doing a dip, and then fell on Derek’s knee twice to break two ribs.
• Derek and Maria earned their first 9 of the season. There were only 4 couples that received 9’s this week, 6 receiving 8’s.
• The couple’s two week total was the 4th highest score, placing them as one of the top 6 couples.
• Derek and Maria were the most improved couple of the night, improving by 4 points from the prior week.
• Only 4 other couples upped their games from the prior week, 3 received the same scores, and 4 others took a dip.
• Derek performed with the other pros in an absolutely amazing Pro Dance. Watch here.
WEEK 3 – Theme: The Most Memorable Year
• Derek and Maria continued their upward ascent, improving upon last week’s score by 3 points. Had they danced later in the night, the score might have been higher.
• Twitter lit up, as did the media the next day, wondering, “Did-they, didn’t-they?” kiss during this highly romantic dance. You be the judge.
• The audience erupted in a standing ovation, complimenting the execution of this dreamy, beautiful, sensual, and totally sexy version of the Rumba.
• After the dance, Tom turned to the judges and said, “Week 3, week 3…Wow!”
• According to Len, the dance was a “mix of the ballroom, with a little touch of the bedroom going on…”, and Carrieann added that the dance was “a true vertical and horizontal expression of the true vertical desire.”
• As a side note, Derek had asked the fans if they wanted a sweet or a sexy Rumba for Wk 3. We got Sexy, with a capital “S”.
• As a testament to Maria’s dancing, and to Derek’s choreography, Bruno pointed out that there was no rhythm in the song, only melody, which is very difficult to dance to.
• Bruno further said, “You’ve done something on Wk 3, I’ve never seen.”
• Derek showed his creative gift in that he added “sunlight” to their Rumba through effective lighting, which created a very ethereal, dreamy mood. He also had the novel idea to slow down the music to one of Maria’s favorite songs, Material Girl, and to add violins to it.
• Traditionally, Derek’s Rumbas earn high scores, but this could possibly be considered his best EVER in terms of viewer satisfaction.
• Derek and Maria had spent the prior weekend on red-eye flights, flying to and from Miami, where Maria wrestled her way to win a WWE Tag Team match, and still managed to dance to near perfection on Monday night.
WEEK 4 – Theme: Rock n’ Roll Week
• For what can arguably be considered the best Tango of the night, Derek and Maria enjoyed a standing “O”, and earned the 2nd highest dance score of the night. Yay!
• Derek’s Tangos have traditionally earned high scores, with this week’s score of 26 being tied with Jennie’s score, S-5, Week 3. (Undoubtedly, the rock music theme may have contributed to this week’s score not being higher.)
• Maria, the stalwart Greek warrior, danced beautifully, despite having a stress fracture on her right foot, and multiple bone bruises on her left foot.
• In celebration of Rock n’ Roll week, Derek once again styled his hair to reflect the theme. See here.
• At the beginning of their Tango, Derek had Maria’s school teacher costume blown off of her with a loud bang and smoke, revealing a sexy, sultry, see-through Tango dress. See here.
• Though executing some amazingly choreographed dances, the 10 paddle has eluded Team Menough so far this season.
• In the past, for 5 out of 8 seasons, Derek earned his first 10 by week 4. (He also earned a 10 in the 2nd week of Season 10, and in the 3rd week for Season 7.)
• The standard of dancing for this season has been incredibly high.
WEEK 5 – Latin Night
• Team Menough brought sizzle to the ballroom when Maria planted a full-on kiss on Derek’s lips during their sexy, saucy Salsa.
• What did Derek do to earn this? Apparently, he took his shirt off to reveal his 6-pack. Watch.
• Carrieann felt their kiss was too much, telling Derek that he was “selling out” and that they should have saved it for backstage. Hmmm.
• Despite the controversy over the appropriateness of the kiss, Derek and Maria were selected to do the Encore dance for the Result’s Show.
• In an entertaining twist, Derek laid a big one on Carrieann, who was floored, and Maria kissed a very willing Bruno. Watch.
• Maria had a slight wardrobe malfunction after their dance. Her top had ridden up on one side, exposing part of her left breast.
• During a rehearsal, Derek dropped Maria face first to the floor, hurting her chin. Ouch!
• By the way, that was Dr. Drew who had the honor of having Maria shimmy down his legs at the beginning of their dance on Monday.
• Meanwhile, Derek danced with Dr. Drew’s very youthful looking wife.
• Derek and Maria escaped having to participate in this season’s Dance Duel, in which the two lowest couples do a dance off.
• Derek and Maria’s 5-Week Average of 25.2 is thisclose to matching Nicole’s 5-Week Average of 25.8 and Brooke’s of 26. Nice!
• Derek maintains his record of taking ALL of his partners past the halfway point in the competition. Congrats, Derek!
WEEK 6 – Motown Special
• Wow! What an intense Monday and Tuesday for Derek and Maria……….and all Team Menough fans! Photo of our favorite couple.
• Derek and Maria danced a beautiful, well framed Foxtrot, but unfortunately Maria tripped on her dress.
• The mishap caused Maria to misstep on the stairs, thus losing her timing. The result? Points off of their dance score.
• It is possible that Martha Reeves, who was singing live (sans the Vandellas), was too close to where they planned to dance.
• On Tuesday night, to the horror of fans, our beloved duo was placed in jeopardy. The look on Derek’s face said, “We’re going home”.
• Other than producer drama, how did they land in jeopardy? They were 3rd from the bottom on the leader board. Yikes! 
• To the surprise of most everyone, during the Cha Cha Marathon, Derek and Maria were tapped to leave second.
• Earning only 4 points out of 10, combined with 26 for their Foxtrot, Derek and Maria’s total points for the night were 30 out of 40.
• “I don’t know,” Derek said. “I was bummed. I’m not gonna lie. My pride was hurt. I’ve only ever come first or second in that thing.”
• It’s okay, Derek fans! In Season 7, Brooke and Derek earned the low score of 21 in the semi-finals, but …we know how that season ended.
WEEK 7 – Classical Night
• Woo hoo! It happened! Team Menough finally got a good view of a 10 paddle, earning themselves the first perfect score…of the season!!!!!!!!!
• Derek and Maria owned the night due to their fiery, passionate, well-orchestrated and choreographed Pasodoble. Ah yeah!
• It was heartwarming to see Derek’s ‘brother’ Mark, his partner Katherine, and Roshon Fagan, all jumping up and down for glee.
• Mark later said, “…she went for it tonight and killed it, and she deserves it.” Mark’s partner, Katherine, added, “I’m really, really proud.”
• Derek and Maria were deliriously happy, as they watched each judge slowly and dramatically hold up their 10 paddles. Watch this brief clip.
• Team Menough’s vampire themed Paso was danced to Prokoviev’s Montagues and Capulets. See photos.
• As a side note, Derek pushed Maria particularly hard this week, with Maria complaining that it wasn’t as much fun during rehearsals.
• Derek joked, “…With all my previous partners, all the weeks I’ve gotten really hard on my partners, and they kinda hated me, is (sic) weeks when we’ve done really well.”
• Len called their dance “…sharp as a razor, crisp as a Pringle, and had more tension than my grandmother’s knicker elastic…Fantastic!”
• On GMA, fellow pro Tony Dovolani said that Maria so deserved the 1st perfect score for her execution and for staying in character.
• Karina Smirnoff chimed in, adding that “she did difficult choreography, and delivered every single line.”. Watch Tony and Karina here.
• The teams were up next, with Derek and Maria’s team nailing their Tango, earning them an additional 27 points. Click on the link below: Weekly Dance Scores.
• Team Tango had winning choreography, great synchronization, unique costuming, and two stand-out celeb performances by Maria and Roshon.
• To date, Derek’s team has won all 6 team dance competitions in which he has competed. See the Group Dances chart here.
• Team Menough’s combined score for both dances put them at the TOP of the leaderboard for the first time all season. Menough said.
• And folks, for the 2nd time this season, Derek and Maria performed the encore dance, their Pasodoble, but it had an alternate ending, just as their salsa encore had.
WEEK 8 – Trio Dances With Another Pro
• Team Menough had another week of drama, and part of that drama was landing 2nd from the bottom in scoring. Yikes!
• In the pre-dance package, a very frustrated Derek had to be bleeped several times in rehearsal with Maria.
• He later apologized to Maria for being “a jerk”, and said, “Sometimes you hurt the ones you love the most…”.
• Derek and Maria danced a romantic and beautifully choreographed Viennese Waltz. See picture.
• The audience seemed to be loving Derek and Maria’s on-air chemistry.
• Carrieann remarked, “Something magical is happening between you…There is the emotional connection to…each other that makes it so special.”
• Maria cried after the dance, from the emotion of it all, and Derek seemed to have a tear in his eyes as well.
• Len, however, grumpier than ever, didn’t appreciate the beauty of the dance; there was not enough dancing in hold.
• At least, Len is consistent in his criticisms; he gave Derek the same critique for his waltz with Jennie. Brief clip.
• Derek and Maria were lucky to get an “8”, because in S-9, Len gave Dimitri and Mya a “5”. Hear the brutal chastisement.
• For their “trio” dance, Derek and Maria danced a Samba with troupe member Henry Byalikov.
• What a unique Samba it was! The dance was choreographed to a Bollywood inspired theme.
• Of course, of course, Len didn’t like the Samba-Bollywood fusion, saying that there was not enough Samba.
• Len chastised Derek again, and gave the dance a “7”. Derek and Maria haven’t scored “7’s” since Week 1.
• Team Menough’s trio dance earned the lowest trio dance score of the night (25). (The others were 28, 27, 29, 27, 27.)
• Len had trouble sleeping that night, feeling upset about his scoring of the dance. Hear a brief clip of his comments.
• Love that Len said, “I don’t say this word often, but Derek as a choreographer is a genius. He’s a genius.”
• Despite all the drama of the week, a happy conclusion: Team Menough is going to the semi-finals! Yea, Baby!!!
WEEK 9 – The Semi-Finals
• The judges were handing out 10’s like they were going out of style on Monday, and fortunately Derek and Maria were the recipients of 5 of them.
• Derek severely hurt his back while practicing the Argentine Tango, yet for a dance loaded with complicated lifts, they still earned a perfect 30.
• Derek is a master craftsman for Argentine Tango choreography; he has never earned less than a 27.**
• Monday’s perfect score adds to the perfect score for their Pasodoble, making it two 30’s for the season.
• In his winning seasons, Derek has had more than two perfect scores, three in S-7, four in S-10, and six in S-11.
• In his non-winning seasons, he had one 30 in S-5 and two 30’s in S-13.
• The same team of specialists that have helped Maria through her injuries this season, worked on Derek’s back, plus there were 3 doctors backstage for him.
• Maria has had laser treatments, cryotherapy, massage, lymphatic drainage, and bone stimulation.
• During camera blocking, Maria suffered yet another injury, this time to her quad, adding to her broken ribs, fractures, and broken toes.
• Derek has had some kind of trauma to his person during every season, except Season 11.
- Season 5 – first fall ever on DWTS
- Season 6 – neck injury / food poisoning
- Season 7 – head injury / black outs
- Season 8 – knee injury
- Season 9 – flu (possibly the swine flu)
- Season 10 – neck / back injury
- Season 13 – dislocated shoulder
• Derek and Maria danced a Jive that Len called non-traditional, but said it didn’t matter, and gave them a 9.
• Uh! Remember last week? For their non-traditional Samba, Len was very upset and gave them a 7. ?????
• Maria said that she and Derek had had a tough week: she wasn’t getting the dances, they lost one day’s rehearsal to Wango Tango, Derek couldn’t get the choreography down, and they weren’t really prepared to dance.
• In spite of the hard week, they found themselves at the top of the leader board, with a near perfect score of 59 out of 60. See photos of Derek and Maria.
• To the surprise of many, and with an audience booing in disapproval, Derek and Maria were eliminated.
• Derek and Maria trended worldwide on Twitter, with commentary that they were robbed.
• This was probably not the 27th birthday present that Derek had hoped for. (Birthday: May 17)
• This was only Derek’s 3rd time that he did not advance to the finals after being sent to the semi-finals.
• He missed the opportunity to dance freestyle with Jennie (S-5) and with Joanna (S-9).
• We will see Derek and Maria dance one more time, when they return to next week’s season finale.
• Ten weeks of seeing Derek dance! How fortunate we are!
WEEK 10 – The Finale
• Team Menough returned to the ballroom for the season finale, and re-danced their amazingly beautiful Argentine Tango.
• This re-performance was even more awesome than the first; the movements were sharper, crisper, more intense. Fantastic job! See here.
• Earlier in the evening, Derek participated in a combination pro and celebrity opening number. See here.
• Derek and Maria’s two perfect scores for the season extended Derek’s total record of perfect scores to 17 in 9 seasons, more than any other pro.
• He had 3 perfect scores with Brooke, 3 with Nicole, and 6 with Jennifer.
• Derek and Maria had a total of ten 10’s, extending Derek’s overall record to 98, far more than any other pro.***
• He had 19 with Brooke, 19 with Nicole, and 22 with Jennifer.
• Derek and Maria’s Rumba, Pasodoble, Viennese Waltz, Argentine Tango and Jive had the highest scores for those particular dances this season.
• And finally, the nicest stat of all, Derek still remains the winningest pro on Dancing With the Stars, with 3 wins in his 9 seasons.
• And that, folks……….is a wrap! (Stay tuned to see if Derek will be back for All-Star Season 15.)
FUN FACTS about Derek (Season 5 to Season 13)
• Derek took Season 12 off to star in the feature film, Cobu 3D: New York Nights, along with Asian pop star BoA Kwon. It is due in theaters in late 2012.
• Derek remains the only pro who has taken all of his multiple partners to week 7 in the competition, and 7 of his partners to week 9.
• Derek is the first and only pro to win with a model, having broken the axiomatic model curse.
• Derek partnered with the oldest female celebrity to win DWTS. (Jennifer Grey, age 50)
• Derek is the only male pro with back-to-back wins. (Seasons 10 & 11)
• Derek has to his credit, 4 trips to the finals, 3 wins, and 2 trips to the semi-finals.
• None of Derek’s wins were with athletes, in fact he’s never had an athlete as a partner.
• Derek has partnered 3 models (one win), 3 actresses (one win), and 2 singers (one win).
• As a point of reference, past winners of DWTS include 3 actors, 3 singers, 1 model, and 6 athletes.
• Derek had 6 wins in a row for the group dances he’s helped choreograph.
• Derek and his partners have come in first for 3 out of 4 dance marathons.
• Derek is the only sexy, blonde, male pro. But of course!
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Derek and Maria’s Weekly Dance Scores
CLICK on the name of the dance to see the performance.
| WEEK | DANCE | SCORES | RANKING |
| 1 | Cha Cha | 7-7-7=21 | Tied with one other couple for the 4th highest score. No elimination. Danced 1st out of 12. |
| 2 | Quickstep | 8-8-9=25 | Tied with one other couple for the 2nd highest score. Danced 8th out of 12. |
| 3 | Rumba | 9-9-9=27 | Placed 3rd out of 11 couples. Danced 2nd out of 11. |
| 4 | Tango | 9-8-9=26 | Placed 2nd out of 10 couples. Tied with one other couple. Danced 9th out of 10. |
| 5 | Salsa | 9-9-9=27 | Tied with one other couple for the 2nd highest score. Danced 3rd out of 9. |
| 6 | Foxtrot | 8-9-9=26 | Placed 3rd lowest, tied with one other couple. Danced 2nd out of 8. |
| Marathon | 4/10 | Placed 7th out of 8 couples. | |
| 7 | Pasodoble | 10-10-10=30 | Placed 1st out of 7 couples. Danced 6th out of 7. |
| Team Tango | 10-8-9=27 | Won the team competition. | |
| 8 | Viennese Waltz | 10-8-10=28 | Placed 2nd lowest. Danced 2nd out of 6. |
| Samba | 9-7-9=25 | Lowest “Trio” score of the night. | |
| 9 | Argentine Tango | 10-10-10=30 | Placed 1st out of 4 couples. Danced 4th. eliminated |
| Jive | 10-9-10+29 |
