Abby Lee Miller regrets being so harsh to some of her former students – but not necessarily because of how it made them feel. The former Dance Moms star opened up about her controversial teaching method in an interview for IMPACT x Nightline.
When ABC’s Juju Chang asked Abby, 58, if she would change anything about how she treated students in the past, she responded, “Absolutely, yes. I would. Because no matter how harsh I was on the kid, they weren’t going to get it. They just didn’t have the talent. They didn’t have it.”
The journalist pushed Abby further, adding, “You’re saying you regret it not because you hurt the kids’ feelings, but because it was pointless?” The dance instructor replied, “Well, no. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I want to get them to be better and to be the best that they can be.”
Abby’s career as a dance teacher was documented on Lifetime’s Dance Moms from 2011 until 2019. She will soon return to television in the new series Abby Lee Miller Dance With Me!, a spinoff that’s being marketed as a new season of Dance Moms.
One day before Abby’s IMPACT x Nightline interview began streaming on Hulu on Thursday, May 2, several of her former students appeared in a Dance Moms reunion special. Paige Hyland, Brooke Hyland, Chloe Lukasiak, JoJo Siwa, Kendall Vertes and Kalani Hilliker got together to discuss their time on the show and what they’re up to today. Of the reunion attendees, only Kalani, 23, and JoJo, 20, still talk to Abby.
Meanwhile, Life & Style exclusively spoke to Chloe, 22, about her former teacher’s methods, which she said were “unnecessary.” However, she acknowledged that “some sort of pushing and encouraging is vital in shaping a person.”
Chloe said she prefers to “discipline” in a more positive way, which led her to create the Elevé Dance Competition. While discussing her own methods, she added, “It’s really done in a positive and uplifting way – not in an intense, negative way. I think that dance can sometimes really easily lean into the toxicity, but I think Elevé is all about just celebration of dance and love and supporting one another.”
While the former reality star admitted that the viral clips she’s seen of Dance Moms are “ridiculous,” she also noted, “I think it reaches a large variety of people. They’re tuning in for different reasons, so that makes sense. No wonder people watch. It’s a great way to take your mind off of things!”
The Dance Moms reunion is currently streaming on Lifetime, while a premiere date for Abby Lee Miller Dance With Me! has not been confirmed yet.
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