Abby Lee Mille is not happy that she was left out of Dance Moms: The Reunion! The dance teacher, who was noticeably absent from the May 2024 Lifetime special, claimed that her former dancers “can’t face” her.
It’s a lot, so keep reading to get the full breakdown on her side of the story.
The controversial choreographer is not holding back, especially when it comes to her prior students. While on the “Just B with Bethenny Frankel” podcast, Abby revealed why she thinks she wasn’t invited to the sit down.
“I think the kids can’t face me because they know they would never be where they are today if it wasn’t for the show,” the former TV reality star said on the interview posted on Thursday, May 9.
In case you need a refresher on Dance Moms, here’s the shortest explanation of the show: Young dancers compete with the help and guidance of their passionate but demanding teacher at the Abby Lee Dance Company.
One of the biggest critiques from viewers of the show centered around Abby’s treatment towards the girls. Many felt that the 58-year-old created a hostile environment for the dancers.
However, Abby thinks quite the opposite. “If this was so toxic for all these kids, why did they come back? The kids came back,” referring to Brooke Hyland and Paige Hyland.
“There’s two little girls who I was very close to — much closer emotionally and family-wise than any of the other kids,” she told the host.
“Their mother was in my original competition team when I was 14 years old. She stayed at my studio. Then she left, got married, had kids [and] brought them to my studio at 2 years old,” questioning if the environment was so bad, why would she bring them back.
Abby further blamed the hostile portrayal of her character was due to the network.
“What you don’t read, what you don’t read that Lifetime didn’t want anyone to know. They wanted me to be this down and out, po-dunk, heavy set dance teacher, screaming at these little kids because that made good TV,” she claimed. “Nobody talks about the kids that I’ve had in, drum roll please, 25 Broadway shows. Did you read that anywhere? 25 Broadway shows. I have had kids from Pittsburgh in, that I took, that I drove their asses back and forth to the auditions.”
The dance teacher went on to say that while she blames the moms for “destroying” her business, however, there were still “good times” that she reflects on today.
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