The Rollercoaster, Bitter, and Dramatic Lives of the Reunited Dance Moms
It’s been over a decade since Dance Moms, one of the most controversial reality shows. The Lifetime series from 2011 to 2019 was the stepping stone for Maddie Ziegler and JoJo Siwa, allowing them to be discovered and grow their careers.
The show followed the Pennsylvania-based Abby Lee Dance Company’s Junior Elite Team. Back then, the girls ranged from 6 to 16 years old. It allowed them to reveal their personal lives as they prepared, trained, and competed in dance competitions across the country.
Aside from the young female dancers, the other stars of the reality show were Abby Lee, the lead teacher. The show depicted her relationships with her students. It also often showed the dancers’ bickering and more competitive feisty mothers.
Although the show had its final curtain call, some of the girls remained friends and in touch, while others felt like it was time to move on and separate from the show. Surprisingly, most of the original cast members and the show’s official social media account announced earlier this month that some girls will be back for a special TV reunion.
The news was re-shared and re-posted by many of the original cast members using one photo of the girls. The girls, now women, were pictured in a glamorous mirror selfie that included original dancers Chloe Lukasiak, Kendall Vertes, sisters Brooke and Paige Hyland, and Kalani Hilliker who joined the later seasons of the show.
The announcement came after the girls and their mothers shared a picture of them celebrating Paige’s 23rd birthday. Fans of the show immediately noticed that the Ziegler sisters, Maddie and McKenzie, were omitted. Maddie, who was Abby’s favorite, and her younger sister left in Season 6 to pursue solo careers.
The popularity of Dance Moms has been clouded with controversies that include Abby’s sometimes racy choreography for the girls, explosive PG catfights, and body shaming. The ultimate highlight was Abby’s weak pyramid system for her young protégés.
Abby also went through her own personal struggles. In the last decade or so, the dance teacher pled guilty to felony bankruptcy fraud and was sentenced to 1.5 years in federal prison. In 2018, she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and was declared cancer-free a year later.
The recent posts of the Dance Mom girls indicate a strong and friendly bond, but that wasn’t always the case because the moms often fought and resorted to nasty behavior if their daughters weren’t on top of the pyramid or given solos. The girls were also often pitted against each other, affecting their ability to form genuine friendships with one another.
The dancers admitted that they struggled with the show while filming but have since moved on with other creative pursuits. Some left the show on bad terms with Abby and the rest of the moms. Others remained friendly and have kept in touch.
With the reunion scheduled for 2024, the most successful among the girls are Maddie and JoJo. Many of the former dance students have impressive networks on their social media accounts. Most of them are now in university and have gotten involved in other projects outside of dance.
