Season 19 DWTS Alum Admits Having Crush on Derek Hough

Season 19 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Bethany Mota had a crush on her ballroom pro partner, Derek Hough.

On the June 17 episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, host Cheryl Burke asked Mota if she ever developed a crush on either Hough or pro Mark Ballas, whom she also danced with.

“I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t. I feel like it’s so natural to, like, I think Derek, even Mark, and like, even the other folks, it’s like, you kind of develop a little bit of a crush. Like I absolutely, absolutely did,” Mota admitted, adding, “so many other people that I’ve spoke to that have done the show, it’s like they, it’s such a common thing.”

“Simultaneously, you’re having such an incredible experience in your life. So it’s like, you kind of feel a closeness to those people around you. And then you also kind of develop crushes around, like, guys around you,” she added.

Mota and Hough finished the season in fourth place.

Bethany Mota Formed a Friendship With Derek Hough

There had been some dating rumors surrounding Mota and Hough on the show, but the two never admitted to being more than just friends. However, when the two traveled to Australia together, that really got some fans talking.

“We’re off to Australia! Look how sweet @derekhough is carrying my luggage #TeamMOTOUGH is back!!!” Mota wrote on Twitter (which is now X) in 2014, along with a kissing face emoji and a snap of Hough.

“Sorry but SHIP,” one person responded.

“Even if he was 50 years older than you beth i would still ship it,” someone else wrote.

While competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” Mota and Hough became very close. And, following their elimination, the two have stayed in touch.

“We’ll just hit each other up, make sure everything’s good and check-in. I also saw that he’s judging this season so that’s super cool,” Mota told Hollywood Life in 2020.

Brooke Burke Previously Admitted That She Had a Crush on Derek Hough

Mota certainly isn’t alone in her feelings when it comes to crushing on her dance partner. In fact, Brooke Burke, who competed on (and won) season 7, previously told Cheryl Burke that she had the hots for Hough.

“I was crushing on Derek for sure,” Burke said on an October 2023, episode of  the”Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast. “Had I not been married? I would have actually hoped we would have had a love affair,” she continued.

“You are intertwined with someone’s body, when you’re not a dancer. There is no way that I have ever been so connected — besides with a lover or a husband — than I was with Derek. And it’s every single day,” she explained, adding that there were times that dancing felt “more intimate than love making.”

While dancing with Hough, Burke was married to David Charvet. The two split a decade later. Meanwhile, Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert, have been romantically linked since 2015. They tied the knot in August 2023.