Dylan Efron has broken his silence on the moment when Derek Hough accidentally called Tyler Cameron by his name.
Efron, 33, said he was backstage with Season 34 winner Robert Irwin during the “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 premiere last week when Hough, 39, flubbed while complimenting Cameron, 31, on his performance. The judge’s “Dylan” slip-up sent fans into a trolling frenzy online, but Efron initially wondered if anyone else had caught it.
“It was funny, but I didn’t think it would turn into, like. I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed,” Efron tells us. “Like, I’m more sensitive to it since it’s my name. But then immediately I saw Tyler and was like, ‘Hey, we need to go give Derek s–t.'”
Cameron was totally game, Efron says. The pair’s fiancée, Tate Madden, came up with their now-viral TikTok video poking fun at Hough’s mistake. Hough then got in on the fun himself, posting a video of him hilariously calling “DWTS” cast members by the wrong name backstage — including mixing Efron and Cameron up again — and sharing their reaction.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t like the shoutout,” Efron cracks.
The unexpected attention came as Efron returned to the ballroom for the first time since placing fourth on last season’s “DWTS.” He describes the experience as feeling like a high school reunion — with a side of PTSD.
“You hear those three beeps before the song starts, and it’s like, you have some adrenaline pumping through your veins even though you’re not dancing,” he shares.
“It’s just such a good environment there, so I still feel it,” he adds.
Efron says his former partner Daniella Karagach’s new Season 35 partner, paralympian gold medalist Ezra French, doesn’t need any advice from him.
“I had to fight my way from the bottom, I feel like — I think he’s already feeling like a finalist and potential winner,” he notes.
“He just seems like he has such a good head on his shoulders,” he adds. “He’s a competitor.”
The reality star is now promoting e.l.f. Hair’s “Never Thirsty” line, and the partnership has prompted a surprising reversal on one of his most famous stances: that people shower too much.
“I was coming from a place of, I would go camping for two weeks and not shower and be totally happy, and now I’m like, ‘Oh, there are cool products out there that actually improve your skin and makeyou glow,’ and so I think I’m more knowledgeable in that area now,” he explains.
“But I still think people shower too much.”
A game-changer for him has been using conditioner for his curls.
“I actually have pretty curly hair, and I’ve always just had bedhead … my hair is crazy, and I think using conditioner more often has helped me a lot,” he notes.
“And then conditioner doesn’t work without shampoo before, so I think that’s where this Never Thirsty shampoo and conditioner is actually helping me,” he continues. “It is easy to put both on back-to-back, and then my hair is actually a little more, like, tamed every day. So, yeah, I do use soap way more than I used to, and it’s helped my curls.”
Efron placed fourth on last season’s “Dancing With the Stars” with partner Karagach, and his return to the ballroom for the Season 35 premiere set social media ablaze when Hough’s on-air gaffe created an instant meme moment between two of reality television’s most recognizable faces.