She got her start as a youngster on Dance Moms, now, Kenzie Ziegler is all grown up and taking on the world!
“We got pulled out of school every day to go to dance and film a TV show, so that was not normal at all,” the former Lifetime star told Bustle in May 2021 of her and sister Maddie Ziegler‘s childhood. “We ended up not even finishing [at our] elementary school, because we got pulled out so much for work. And then once we started traveling, people started recognizing us. I remember we were in an ice cream store, and someone called our names, and we were so freaked out. Like, how did these people know us? And then we realized, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of attention around our show.'”
Dance Moms premiered in 2011 and became an immediate phenomenon, introducing viewers to Kenzie’s meme-worthy confessionals and epic dancing skills. After she departed from the reality series in 2016, the Pennsylvania native kicked off her singing career. At first, she released music under the moniker Mack Z, but has since graduated to using her real name. Her debut album, Mack Z, was released in April 2014. Kenzie’s second record, Phases, dropped in November 2018.
Throughout her time in the spotlight, Kenzie was open about the constant comparisons to her older sister, which seriously upset Maddie.
“It broke my heart that you got compared to me so much as a dancer. Like, if you didn’t win, why weren’t you as good as Maddie? That is so heartbreaking,” the West Side Story actress recalled during the siblings’ Bustle interview. “Everyone should be allowed to shine in their own ways. That’s why I was so happy you took [up] singing, because I can’t sing for the life of me. It’s good that we have our own things. We’re allowed to be different.”
Other than her singing career, Kenzie has continued to show off her dancing skills thanks to TikTok.
“I like the app because you can be very real,” the Total Eclipse alum shared. “On TikTok, you can post a video with no makeup, straight out of bed, or doing the craziest, stupid stuff, and everyone will think it’s funny or be like, ‘Oh, I love how authentic you are.’ It’s more of a drama-free zone.”
Scroll through our gallery to see Kenzie’s total transformation over the years.
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