JoJo Siwa Says“ Dance Moms ”Reunion Producers Tried to Get Her to 'Call Abby' While Filming: 'No Way'

Siwa shared some behind-the-scenes secrets from filming the Lifetime special on the May 2 episode of her podcast

Abby Lee Miller was noticeably absent from the Dance Moms reunion special, but producers tried their hardest to change that.

JoJo Siwa revealed on the May 2 episode of her JoJo Siwa Now podcast that “the producers kept wanting me to call Abby” while filming the Lifetime reunion special in November, which she appeared on alongside her mom, Jessalynn Siwa, and several other OGs including Chloé Lukasiak, Brooke and Paige Hyland, Kendall Vertes and Kalani Hilliker. Kelly Hyland, Kira Girard and Jill Vertes were also in attendance as the girls reflected on their days at the Abby Lee Dance Company — and all its chaos.

Siwa, 20, said it was “shady” of the producers to ask her to call Miller, 58, with whom she has a good relationship but not all the girls do.

“Paige, Brooke, and Chloe don't have any [relationship with Miller], and it is not a healthy end of a relationship. It is very messy,” Siwa said. “It is very traumatic on both ends.”

When the producers asked her to dial their former dance coach in, Siwa said, “Absolutely not. I was like, that's where I put my foot down because I was like, ‘Alright, look. I'm not only putting myself in an awkward position of calling — and in this environment that no one invited her to — but, also, I'm putting Abby in a weird situation where she's talking to people who … she doesn't necessarily know how to talk to them.”

Related: The Biggest Bombshells and Revelations from Dance Moms: The Reunion

She continued, “And then Paige, Brooke, and Chloé, I was like, I'm not gonna do that to them either because this was somebody who was a massive figure in their life, that walked out of their life. There is real trauma there, and I didn't wanna put anybody in that situation of, like, ‘Hey, let's see how this goes.’ No way.”

Siwa noted that she has “a good relationship with Abby,” which she has talked about openly before. "One thing is I will never lose my respect for Abby, ever, for as long as I live," she said.

“I have chosen to see that Abby only ever wanted what was best for me and only ever was tough on me because she was wanting what was best for me,” she continued. “And so for me, I wanted to protect my relationship with Abby, and I also wanted to protect my relationship with Brooke, Paige, and Chloé.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Lifetime for comment.

Related: Dance Moms Cast Only Agreed to Participate in Show's Upcoming Reunion 'If Abby Lee Miller Wasn’t' Involved: Source

During the two-hour Lifetime reunion special, which aired on May 1, the girls opened up about their time on the reality show. Many became emotional as they reflected on the intense days under Miller's reign.

Lukasiak, 22, admitted she was "very hesitant" to take part in the reunion as she was nervous to address the rivalry Abby created between her and Maddie Ziegler, who was absent from the special alongside sister Mackenzie "Kenzie" Ziegler and Nia Sioux.

"I was so sick of like being put in this box that I've been put in since I was little and then I realized that it's gonna scare me either way, whether I'm part of it or whether I'm not," she explained of her motives to participate. "So it's time to come back and set the record straight."

After watching a compilation of how Abby manufactured a rivalry between her and Maddie, she admitted that the competitiveness "really took me down" when she was a child.

"I thought I wasn't enough like in every single way," she said through tears. "And it wasn't until about a year ago, I realized the way I felt about myself were her words still lingering with me. 10 years later, I realized that's not who I am. That's not my truth. She doesn't define me anymore. She doesn't keep that power over me and I started to heal."

Siwa, meanwhile, said of Miller during the reunion: "This is gonna be a little controversial to say I think but — to me, Abby was always right."

"One thing that I’ve learned really working and staying in Hollywood is that — that’s normal," she added. "And it’s like, it’s scary that that’s normal but that taught me how to survive in the industry. I mean it truly is so tough."

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Dance Moms: The Reunion and all seasons of Dance Moms are now streaming on Lifetime.

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