Who’s at the top of the pyramid? JoJo Siwa, Maddie ZieglerMore stole the spotlight Dance Moms — and their parents weren’t afraid to bring the drama.
The Lifetime reality series premiered in 2011 and followed the Abby Lee Dance Company’s junior elite competition team as they rehearsed and performed rigorous new routines each week. Maddie was originally the team’s first member. Mackenzie Ziegler, Nia Sioux, Chloe Lukasiak, Brooke HylandAnd Paige Hyland. The talented children put their moves to the ultimate test while their mothers debated how to make their child a star.
Dance MomsThe original series ran seven seasons from February 2016 to February 2017 and inspired many spin-offs, such as Miami Dance MomsAnd Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition. In March 2017, the studio owner Abby Lee MillerDespite ongoing legal problems, she announced her intention to leave the series. After pleading guilty, she was sentenced two months later to one year and one day in prison followed by two years of supervised freedom.
Abby’s ups and downs didn’t end there. After several surgeries, she was diagnosed in April 2018 with a rare form cancer. She was left wheelchair-bound. However, the longtime dance instructor took her own advice and “saved her tears for her pillow,” making a triumphant return to an additional eighth season of Dance MomsIn June 2019.
Before new students flooded the Pennsylvania-based studio for season 8, original dancers Maddie & Mackenzie were ALDC favorites. Us Weekly confirmed in December 2015 that Maddie was leaving the series — and the dance studio she grew up in — as her career took off.
“Acting is something she’s really excited to pursue and [Maddie] is in high demand,” a source explained at the time following the young dancer’s impressive collaborations with Grammy-nominated artist Sia.
The Music star’s younger sister and their mom, Melissa GisoniSoon after, he left the Lifetime show. A candid personal essay CosmopolitanPublished June 2016, the article was written by Melissa, a mother of two. She spoke out about the unexpected challenges she faced raising her children in the spotlight. Although it was difficult to leave the studio they loved, Melissa knew it was time for Melissa to say goodbye.
“Dance Moms was really a great platform for my kids, but they were pretty much done with it,” she wrote at the time. “It’s the same thing over and over, week after week. My kids told me they didn’t want to do it anymore. When my kids aren’t happy anymore, I don’t care about anything else. It was also holding back the children. … My kids are very happy. They miss the girls but they don’t miss the drama.”
Scroll down to find out your favorite. Dance MomsThe stars are up now:
