Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Derek has been dancing since he was 11 years old. He moved to London at the young age of 12 with his sister, Julianne, to live and train with his dance coaches, Shirley and Corky Ballas. While living in their house, he became best friends with their son, Mark Ballas, with whom he also started a band.

In addition to a successful dance career, Derek also performed on London's West End and played the lead in Footloose. He tried to juggle dancing and theater, but found it to be too difficult. He recently took a break from competing to focus on acting and singing.

Derek is young, charismatic, and loves to entertain. He was one of the dancers on the first Dancing With the Stars Tour and is currently a choreographer on the BBC (UK) hit show, Dance X. He's looking forward to bringing all of his creative visions to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom.