Why Abby Lee Miller Believes the “Dance Moms” Girls Didn't Invite Her to the Reunion: They 'Can't Face Me'
"They know they would never be where they are today if it wasn't for the show," the former television personality said
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Abby Lee Miller and members from the cast of 'Dance Moms'Abby Lee Miller thinks she wasn't invited to the recent Dance Moms reunion because the "kids can't face" her.
On the May 9 episode of the Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, Miller, 58, shared her candid thoughts about being absent from Lifetime's Dance Moms: The Reunion special, which aired on Wednesday, May 1.
"I think the kids can't face me because they know they would never be where they are today if it wasn't for the show," the former television personality said.
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Abby Lee Miller"There's two little girls named Brooke and Paige Hyland who I was very close to, much closer emotionally and family wise than any of the other kids. Their mother was in my original competition team when I was 14 years old — their mother," explained Miller. "And she stayed at my studio, then she left, got married, had kids, brought them to my studio at two years old, and stayed until the show started."
Miller questioned why the kids kept coming back to her studio at age "three and four and five and six and seven and eight" if the environment was "so toxic."
“And what you don't read, what you don't read that Lifetime didn't want anyone to know. They wanted me to be this down and out, po-dunk, heavy set dance teacher, screaming at these little kids because that made good TV," she continued.
Representatives for Lifetime did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
On the podcast, the dance coach also emphasized the accomplishments she has achieved with her students.
Dance Moms/Instagram
'Dance Mom' cast members take a selfie during the filming of their reunion specialRelated: The Cast of Dance Moms: What the Stars Are Up to Now — And Where They Stand With Abby Lee Miller
"Nobody talks about the kids that I've had in, drum roll please, 25 Broadway shows. Did you read that anywhere? 25 Broadway shows. I have had kids from Pittsburgh in, that I took, that I drove their asses back and forth to the auditions," she said.
In March 2024, before the long-awaited reunion took place, a source told PEOPLE that some of the cast members requested that their former dance instructor be absent.
"At this point everyone has gone through different eras, had time to reflect and there’s been a lot that Abby put them through emotionally and physically and they just didn’t want to relive that," the source said.
Brooke and Paige, along with JoJo Siwa, Chloé Lukasiak, Kendall Vertes, and Kalani Hilliker, were among the cast members who attended the reunion.
Nia Sioux, along with sisters Maddie and Kenzie Ziegler, chose not to attend. Sioux later spoke out about her decision on TikTok.
"I love the girls, and I'm really happy for them, and I'm really happy that they get to share how they felt or their experiences, but that's just something I decided that I didn't want to do, and that's okay," said Sioux . "Also, I never said that I wouldn't do a reunion show in the future or talk about my experiences in the future, but right now, at this moment, was not the right time for me to do that."
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Dance Moms: The Reunion is available to stream on Lifetime.
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