‘DWTS’: Derek Hough Injures Back, Teases Post-Apocalyptic Argentine Tango With Bethany Mota

Derek Hough and Bethany Mota will be two of the few survivors of an apocalypse Monday on Dancing with the Stars, but will Hough survive a back injury?

Derek recently dropped a few hints about the two routines he and Bethany will be performing this week, and one of them might be inspired by Mark Ballas’ Halloween routine. Ballas and partner Sadie Robertson used a zombie apocalypse as the setting for their popular Halloween dance, and Derek Hough is going to do something similar this week. Hough wrote about his plans in his TV Guide blog.

“We’re doing a post-apocalyptic Argentine tango. It sounds weird, but we have a cool concept for it.”

To avoid getting called out for copying Mark Ballas, Derek probably won’t use zombies in the routine. Perhaps his apocalypse will result from the rise of robots or an alien takeover.

The post-apocalyptic DWTS routine will be Derek Hough and Bethany Mota’s trio dance with pro Tony Dovolani.

This week, America got to vote for different aspects of the Dancing with the Stars routines, including costumes, songs, and themes. According to the International Business Times, Derek and Bethany will be performing a Viennese waltz to Jessie Ware’s “Say You Love Me.” Unfortunately, the song was too short for the routine that Hough had originally planned.

“For the Viennese waltz, I wanted to tell a story because I felt like we haven’t done that a lot this season. But the song was so short that if we were to do that, there would be no dancing. So I tweaked it and now we start dancing straightaway. There’s still a story, but it’s subtle. It’s not literal and in-your-face, but Bethany is really embodying the dance. It’s a Viennese waltz, but it’s caught in a moment. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise since Len doesn’t like a lot of build-up anyway!”

In an Instagram video, Bethany Mota and Derek Hough asked fans to vote on their storyline for the routine.

http://instagram.com/p/vAOq79p7pz/?modal=true

Disney’s Frozen was a very popular choice, as was The Fault in Our Stars.

Performing two different dances could be tough for Derek Hough this week — in his blog post, the DWTS pro revealed that he injured his back last Sunday. However, he’s hopeful that it’s “just a muscle thing” that won’t affect his performance.

Derek got the perfect opportunity to take his mind off the pain when he helped his partner celebrate her 19th birthday. Hough shared an adorable Instagram photo of Bethany Mota’s reaction to his balloon bouquet, and his back was holding up well enough that he could sweep his partner off her feet.

Bethany also shared a few snaps that appear to be taken in a photo booth.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Derek Hough and Bethany Mota could get some tough competition from Val Chmerkovskiy and Janel Parrish. The couple earned a perfect score for last week’s Romeo and Juliet routine, and this week they’re going to play up their showmance by ending their dance with a kiss.

Do you think Derek Hough’s stripped-down Viennese waltz will get overshadowed by Janel and Val’s smooch? And would you like to see Derek and Bethany pay homage to The Fault in Our Stars or Disney’s Frozen?

[Image credits: Derek Hough and Bethany Mota via Instagram]