Life wasn’t so easy for this gentleman before Dancing With the Stars.
Way before then actually!
Derek Hough recently opened up about his experience as a target for bullies back in his childhood, and what he said happened is downright scary!
The dancing superstar talked about growing up in Utah, and all of the pain inflicted on him by his peers!
Here’s what he said:
“I was punched in the face, pretty aggressively in the stomach. I was tied up in trees and left in fields.”
And the worst part of it all was the senseless violence of it all! He said:
“That’s the question: Why me? Why is this happening to me? What have I done? It’s not because [of] anything other than the people doing it aren’t happy with themselves. They don’t love who they are. They don’t know who they are.”
Even though he didn’t want to be bullied – he learned at an early age that the people doing the viciousness to him were doing such things for their own personal reasons. And he’s learned to forgive them! He said:
“I’ve learned that I can’t have control over the outside. ‘I want this person to respect me. I want this person to like me.’ It’s really just loving who you are and being true to who you are. When I was bullied, it was very physical, it was very aggressive, and it was something that, as I got older, I definitely forgave. I think that when you’re forgiving, you’re for giving.”
Wow!
That’s pretty amazing he was able to forgive people who were SO mean to him!
We could all learn a little something from Derek Hough!
[ Related: Derek Hough Shows His Heart Of Gold While He Helps Out The Homeless Before Dancing With The Stars Rehearsals ]
We’re glad he was able to overcome those hard moments of his life to become an inspiration to us all!
[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]