Derek Hough Shares Sexy Photo Of ‘Special’ ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Partner

Derek Hough recently shared a gorgeous photo of Dancing with the Stars partner Bethany Mota that will have Berek shippers feeling all the feels.

In a squee-worthy Instagram post, Derek Hough labeled Bethany Mota a “special girl.” The photo accompanying the post featured Bethany and Derek looking intense while practicing their freestyle routine for this week’s competition.

“First and last ones in the Studio today. What a long but productive day with this special girl. @bethanynoelm #freestyle #finals #dwts #rehearsal”

Obviously, Derek and Bethany are working extra hard because this week is the last chance they’ll get to dance their way into voters’ hearts.

Derek Hough recently shared his thoughts about the Dancing with the Stars finals in his weekly TV Guide blog, and the five-time mirror ball trophy winner revealed that he’s trying not to let his past success on the show go to his head.

“I can’t believe we’re here! Someone pointed out to me that this is my fifth straight final, which I didn’t even realize. Holy crap! It’s so surreal and amazing. I’m not really thinking about that though. I’m just focusing on Bethany and trying to give her the best material I can.”

(In case you’re curious, Hough’s last four finals partners were snowboarder Amy Purdy, Glee actress Amber Riley, American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler, and gymnast Shawn Johnson.)

Derek Hough also dropped a few hints about what fans can expect from his extremely important freestyle routine with Bethany Mota.

“I’ve settled on telling her story. It starts off slowly and lyrically with beautiful shapes and beautiful lines. There will be other dancers as the dance builds to show her Motavators behind her. It signifies her life and strength… It’s strong and it’s a big song, like ‘Inception.’ It’ll be like Hans Zimmer is there!”

Before Team Berek takes on their freestyle routine, they’ll have to take the “Judge’s Pick” challenge. For this performance, the judges chose a dance that Derek and Bethany previously performed. They picked Hough and Mota’s jive, which was the first dance that they performed on the show. You can check it out below.

In his blog post, Derek Hough also shared his thoughts about his competition. The DWTS pro thinks that he and Bethany Mota will have the toughest time taking down two couples: Val Chmerkovskiy and Janel Parrish, and Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson.

“Janel and Val are going to play to her strengths. I think Janel, along with Alfonso, is the most natural dancer out of all of us left.”

Janel Parrish and Val Chmerkovskiy could definitely benefit from their notorious “showmance” — many Dancing with the Stars fans are convinced that Val and Janel are dating, and Janelskiy made their shippers go crazy by sharing a kiss during one of their routines. However, as the Inquisitr previously reported, Bethany Mota and Derek Hough also have their fair share of shippers. They haven’t put on a grand showmance like Parrish and Chmerkovskiy, but plenty of Dancing with the Stars fans think that Mota and Hough would make a cute couple.

According to ABC, Monday night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars is going to be a very big night. Each couple’s freestyle routine will feature “special effects, additional dancers and unexpected surprises,” and viewers will be treated to a performance by Annie star Quvenzhané Wallis. She’ll sing “It’s The Hard-Knock Life” while young dancers perform a routine choreographed by Mandy Moore.

The mirror ball trophy winner will be announced on Tuesday night’s episode, and the Dancing with the Stars finale will be full of stars — Jennifer Hudson, Gordon City, Meghan Trainor, and Nick Jonas will perform some of their hit songs. The eliminated DWTS couples will also return for encore performances of some of their most popular dances.

Do you think Derek Hough and Bethany Mota will waltz away with the mirror ball trophy on Tuesday?

[Image credit: ABC]