Abby Lee Miller is clapping back at her former Dance Moms stars.
In a new interview with KTLAon Tuesday, August 12, the 60-year-old dance instructor addressed her relationship with the now-grown-up cast members after some of them voiced their negative experiences with the show.
“I think they’re just very ungrateful,” Miller said bluntly. “I think the girls themselves, [they’ve said], it’s toxic… and their memories, this that and the other thing and all their therapy — whatever,” Miller said. “They would not be where they are today without the show. Someone should learn to say thank you.”
Miller went further, saying she believes her own role was just as important to their careers.
“I don’t even think they would be where they are without me, forget the TV show,” she said, pointing to students who have gone on to work in dance, Broadway and entertainment.
“I have a lot of successful students. I have a kid on Broadway, another director-producer-choreographer on Broadway,” Miller added. “I have kids that are out there working in the industry constantly.”
The former Dance Momsstars have offered a more complicated view of their time on the series. Nia Sioux has spoken about her experiences as the show’s only Black dancer at one point, saying it “had lasting effects” and that “it felt like my story wasn’t told the way it should have been told.”
Miller, meanwhile, remains convinced the show was a crucial stepping stone.
“They got their education at the Abby Lee Dance Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are grateful and they are proud,” she said. “If their parents would’ve sent them to any other studio in town, they would not be where they are today. I don’t think the girls have really put that together yet. Maybe someday they will.”
2026-08-12 23:31:00
