United Kingdom, May 27 -- Derek Hough was tied up by his ankles and had a gun put to his head while being "tormented" by childhood bullies.

The 41-year-old Dancing With The Stars professional dancer grew up in Sandy, Utah, where he was targeted by thugs at his school and in his neighbourhood, partly due to him being a dancer.

He said on The Bossticks podcast: "Being a dancer didn't help. I would get the crap beaten out of me.

"At one school a kid punched me in the face, I was bleeding everywhere.

"But then I retaliated and started beating him up and then I got expelled from school."

Speaking about being targeted in his neighbourhood, he said: "They would, like, hang me up in a tree by my ankles and put a gun to my head and spit on me...