Julianne Hough reveals how Hayley Erbert's 'tragic' health scare affected their family

Julianne Hough knows that despite any family squabbles, the Houghs always have each other's backs when it matters most.

Speaking to People magazine ahead of the release of her upcoming novel, "Everything We Never Knew," the "Dancing with the Stars" pro-turned-co-host divulged how her family came together after sister-in-law Hayley Erbert's health scare at the end of last year.

Julianne Hough's older brother, 39-year-old pro dancer Derek Hough, married 29-year-old Erbert in August 2023. In December, Derek Hough announced his wife underwent emergency surgery for a cranial hematoma following a performance on their Symphony of Dance tour. After several surgeries and a recovery process he called "nothing short of a miracle," the couple resumed the tour, which had been postponed due to Erbert's health issues, in the spring.

"When something tragic happens, especially with what just happened with Derek and Haley, there could have been little things just kind of looming or lingering in the background, but it just was a clean slate," Julianne Hough, 36, told People.

"Whatever weirdness might have been around anything, we really do care so much, and people want to help. ... When you're left with life-or-death situations, nothing else matters."

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Julianne Hough is 'blessed' with her family, though they don't 'have the same beliefs'

Derek and Julianne Hough, along with siblings Sharee, Marabeth and Katherine, grew up in a Mormon family and spent their early years in Utah before training as professional dancers in England.

Julianne Hough opened up to People about their current family dynamic and said, “I am so blessed to have the family that I have, even when we're not all on the same page, when we don't sometimes have the same beliefs or understandings of things.

"Our deepest desire is to connect to each other. So the thing that hurts the most is when we're not connected."

She added, "Sometimes you do the thing that hurts the most, which is remove yourself because you're trying to protect yourself. So our family is like any other family. We have our situations ... but our deepest desire is to connect. And I think we all really have a strong desire to make that happen."

When her brother posted about Erbert's hospitalization on Dec. 7, Hough reposted his Instagram statement to her Instagram Story and wrote, "Please pray and send all your love, healing and light to Hayley and Derek." She added: "Thank you from the depths of our (families') hearts!"

On April 5, Erbert took to Instagram to share her feelings about being able to return to dancing.

"What a blessing (and surprise) it is to be able to be back on stage dancing with my love after such a crazy past four months. My healing journey has been nothing short of extraordinary and being able to dance again is igniting my soul in all the ways; speeding up my recovery even more," she captioned a video of tour rehearsals.

She added, "I am so appreciative of the doctors who have supported me in my decision to dance again and my team of specialists that have been assembled to assure that my health and safety is priority. I cannot wait for you all to see this show! It was so meaningful when we opened last year and now, after everything that has happened, it is truly even more special."