Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler left Dancing mothers in the sixth season, but there is much more to the story.
With the Dancing mothers With the Reunion Special airing in May and the Ziegler girls refusing to participate, many fans are wondering what exactly happened to the girls and teacher Abby Lee Miller.
Was their time simply up or was there something more significant going on?
Spoiler alert: It’s the latter.
Why Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler left Dance Moms
In 2016, after six years on the show, Maddie and her sister Mackenzie left Dancing mothers Franchise forever. Her exit was a bitter topic for her.
As Maddie told it at the time, leaving wasn’t so much a choice as it was a need.
“We had such a bad conscience for a long time” The fallout Actress tells Cosmopolitan in 2022.
“She trained me, she helped me, but I also knew I would be fine without her and I was tired of being in a toxic environment. I thought, ‘This isn’t for me.’ I can’t do this.'”
Maddie hasn’t spoken to Abby Lee since.
The problem was that the girls were still under contract to the show and Lifetime. When the girls were finally ready to leave, they had a powerful ally at their side: Sia.
Sia had hired young Maddie to star in some of her most popular music videos, such as: chandelier. Thanks to this relationship, she was able to help the family.
“[My mom] “We really did everything we could to break our contract and get out, and finally did it with the help of Sia,” Maddie said on a 2023 podcast about her exit in 2016. “It was hard… We almost did 30 episodes a season, so it took our lives.”
Abby Lee Miller’s reaction to the Ziegler sister’s exit
Shortly after Maddie made the comment that the dance company was “toxic,” Abby Lee Miller attended an appointment to perform at Sofia Franklyn’s Sofia with an F Podcast to discuss her relationship with family.
“I can’t really separate Maddie from her sister and her mother, and there are some… I don’t want to use the term ‘bad blood,’ but there are some devastating things.”
In fact, Abbey Lee seemed far less worried about the allegations of bullying and abuse than she was about allegations that Mack and her mother cheated her out of money.
Abby claimed that she didn’t receive “a penny” from Mackenzie’s 2014 song “It’s a Girl Party,” even though she produced it.
“A song that went to No. 1 on iTunes in three countries: ‘It’s a Girl Party.'” I produced it. I did everything for this child. Mack Z was my creation,” Abby claimed.
The Ziegler sisters skipped the “Dance Moms” reunion
Now, all these years later, it’s clear that Maddie and her sister prefer to put the past behind them.
When Lifetime invited her to perform Dance Moms: The Reunionwho immediately refused.
“We didn’t want to go back to that time,” they said in a statement AND.
But choosing to relive their childhood doesn’t mean they still don’t have relationships with the other girls.
The day before Dance Moms: The Reunion After filming, the majority of the original cast – except Abbey Lee, obv – got together to celebrate Paige Hyland’s birthday. This included Nia Sioux and her mother, who also did not attend the reunion.
In photos shared on social media by Maddie’s mother, Melissa Gisoni, all of the girls look happy to be reunited. Notably absent are the other two girls who actually attended the reunion special: JoJo Siwa and Kalani Hilliker. The latter was brought into the series during Brooke and Paige’s final episode, during the infamous fight that remains a viral moment to this day.