Heavy Abby Lee Miller addressed the "Dance Moms" reunion.
A former guest judge from “Dancing with the Stars” recently opened up about her noticeable absence from a reunion show. Abby Lee Miller is known mostly for her time leading the show “Dance Moms.” However, a recent “Dance Moms” reunion of former cast members did not include Miller. She shared her take on why she wasn’t included in a recent podcast interview.
Here’s what you need to know:
Abby Lee Miller Said the ‘Dance Moms’ Girls Were Afraid to Face Her
Lifetime aired the “Dance Moms” reunion on May 1. The reunion gave fans the opportunity to catch up with several of the early-season dancers.
Chloe Lukasiak, Brooke Hyland, Paige Hyland, JoJo Siwa, Kalani Hilliker, and Kendall Vertes gathered to reminisce about their “Dance Moms” experiences.
Several other prominent former “Dance Moms” girls did not participate, and Miller was notably absent, too.
On May 8, Miller joined the “Just B with Bethenny Frankel” podcast and gave her thoughts on why producers didn’t include her in the “Dance Moms” reunion show.
“I think the kids can’t face me,” Miller declared. She continued, “Because they know they would never be where they are today if it wasn’t for the show.”
Despite the drama that played out on-screen as “Dance Moms” aired from 2011 to 2019, Miller insisted it wasn’t all bad. “There were good times, and it was fun. And they loved what they were doing.”
Miller also alleged, “What the show did, and the moms did, ruined my business. They destroyed my business.”
The former “Dance Moms” star also said she threatened to quit the show to ensure dancer Maddie Ziegler would get the chance to do a music video with singer Sia. Miller shared, “I quit so many times. For the kids. It was always on behalf of the children.”
She added, “They should remember that, but they were little. I guess.”
Miller Takes Credit for the Success of the ‘Dance Moms’ Girls
During her time on Frankel’s podcast, Miller reflected on the legacy she built with her dance company. She also talked briefly specifically about the Hyland family.
“There’s two little girls named Brooke and Paige Hyland, who I was very close to, much closer emotionally and family-wise than any of the other kids. Their mother was in my original competition team when I was 14 years old,” Miller shared.
She continued, “She stayed at my studio. Then she left, got married, had kids, brought them to my studio at 2 years old, and stayed until the show started.”
As “Dance Moms” fans may remember, the Hylands left the show after several seasons, and their departure was intense. On Frankel’s podcast, Miller bemused, “If this was so toxic for all these kids, why did they come back? The kids came back.”
Miller confidently added, “There were other studios in town, mine was the best.”
Later in the podcast, Miller suggested the early dancers were cast because they were cute, not because they were good dancers.
“Paige and Brooke could not pick up [choreography] to save their lives, like that, just not swift,” Miller said.
Miller told the Daily Mail in March, when the first preview emerged, that producers didn’t ask her to participate. She noted the producers were using a lot of old “Dance Moms” footage and were “still trying to make me look as bad as possible. They are still using me.”
She continued, “Those beautiful girls that are on this reunion are girls that I helped to raise. The girls who break down in tears on the trailer are girls that would not have become who they are without me.”
Miller also shared, “They are now successful, confident, and pretty damn wealthy…I was not asked to be in it, and I didn’t get paid anything. Save your tears for the pillow.”