Why Abby Lee Miller Doesn't Regret Creating Dance Moms Rivalries

Maddie Ziegler

In the decade-plus since the Pennsylvania autochthonal pirouetted her mode into our hearts arsenic the unquestionable prima of the Abby Lee Dance Company, she's jeted her mode from electropop prima Sia's music video darling to movie histrion with appearances successful Sia's directorial debut Music, the 2021 West Side Story remake and the 2024 flick My Old Ass.

She besides released a New York Times best-selling memoir, 2017's The Maddie Diaries, judged a caller harvest of endowment connected So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation and teamed with younger sister Kenzie Ziegler for their Take 20 With Maddie and Kenzie podcast. "I deliberation we wanted to fto our guards down and amusement thing that wasn't truthful heavy produced," Maddie explained to E! News, "and, rather, conscionable america having a beauteous casual conversation."

For her adjacent act, she's eyeing her ain quality empire. "I would emotion to bash my ain enactment 1 day," she said. "I deliberation that would beryllium truthful astonishing and thing that I've dreamt of doing forever."

Kenzie Ziegler

Fully graduated from her acro days, 1 of the singer's latest releases was 2023's "Anatomy," a precise idiosyncratic ballas detailing her narration with her estranged father. "I decidedly americium stepping retired of my comfortableness zone," she told People of the single, "and being authentic successful a antithetic mode that’s not conscionable connected societal media—I’m telling my story.”

And with each owed respect to the astir 15 cardinal Dance Moms fans who travel her connected Instagram, she dug a small deeper for her 3rd album, biting my tongue, which dropped successful July 2024.

"I consciousness similar this is conscionable the archetypal clip wherever I tin speech astir things that person happened with my beingness and stock immoderate important things to me," she told E! News. "I conscionable privation radical to instrumentality distant thing from it—whether that beryllium happy, whether that beryllium bittersweet oregon that they tin subordinate to it." 

Chloe Lukasiak

Nearly a decennary aft she took her last Dance Moms bow, the trophy-collecting soloist was acceptable to commencement surviving connected the creation level again.

“I missed dance, and I wanted to find a mode to get backmost to thing I had loved truthful much,” the Girl connected Pointe: Chloe's Guide to Taking connected the World writer explained of launching Elevé National Dance Competition with ma Christi Lukasiak and chap mother-daughter duo Diane and Brittany Pent. “But I wanted to assistance make thing that was the nonstop other of what I had experienced. Something positive. I challenged myself to make thing to reignite my emotion of dance.”

Though the contention took a bow aft 1 year, the Pepperdine University grad is inactive making moves. Focusing chiefly connected contented creation, she's besides been penning her "first fabrication phantasy book," she told E! News successful 2023 and putting immoderate thought into her adjacent section successful a yet-unamed city. "What I've learned the past mates of years is that everything works retired precisely arsenic it's expected to do."

Nia Sioux

The OG institution subordinate (and death driblet enthusiast) continues to slay successful euphony (she dropped her azygous "Low Key Love" successful 2020) and acting, fronting the web bid Sunnyside Up and appearing successful 59 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful.

And portion wrapping up her time occupation arsenic a UCLA pupil (she graduated with a grade successful American Literature and Culture successful June 2024), she was moonlighting successful Hollywood, precocious dropping her azygous "IMMA CATCH" and landing connected Variety's 2023 Young Hollywood Impact Report.

Next up, "I'm conscionable truthful excited to absorption connected my vocation and my craft," she told E! News successful May 2024. "Now I tin spell disconnected and unrecorded my beingness and experimentation and effort caller things and hopefully nonstop much and enactment much and sing much and conscionable execute successful general."

Brooke Hyland

Trading successful radical numbers for radical trips, the eldest of the show's OGs led a 2023 excursion to Costa Rica, sharing on Instagram successful July that "7 days took america from strangers to friends crying successful the airdrome having to accidental goodbye to each other."

Next up, was a six-day jaunt through Croatia inspired by the European backpacking travel she enjoyed aft graduating from Ohio University. "I explored beauteous places and cultures, portion making lifelong friends successful the process," she shared. "It was the travel of a lifetime."

When stateside, the Pittsburgh resident—who got engaged to relationship manager Brian Thalman in May 2024—makes the astir of her selling degree, some with her Bite-Sized Foodie Instagram account and the Hyland Sisters brand she shares with small sib Paige. 

Paige Hyland

The four-season vet has fewer tears to prevention for her pillow arsenic of late. Since earning her grade from West Virginia University successful May 2023 ("IM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!! Congratulations," Christi Lukasiak commented connected her graduation 'gram), the exemplary and influencer has criss-crossed the state with stops successful the Hamptons, Colorado and Wyoming.

Paige's No. 1 question buddy (other than older sis Brooke): Her longtime boyfriend, erstwhile assemblage shot subordinate Jayvon Thrift. "Adore you successful each benignant of way," she wrote of the fittingness exemplary in a 2022 post. 

The brace marked 5 years unneurotic successful July 2024 by signing their archetypal flat lease, Paige writing connected Instagram, "new escapade coming soon."

Kendall Vertes

These days, the James Madison University elder is inactive collecting trophies arsenic portion of the Virginia college's championship-winning creation team. "Younger maine would beryllium truthful proud," the governmental subject large wrote successful a September Instagram. (Naturally, her creation mom Jill Vertes chimed in, "I cognize I’m truthful arrogant of my small kendall.")

In summation to trying her manus astatine acting (including the 2019 movie Rapunzel: A Princess Frozen successful Time and a live-action mentation of Anastasia) and singing (as Kendall K, she released respective albums), the play 2 accomplishment has nabbed much than a fewer sponsorships, acknowledgment to her 11 cardinal Instagram followers. 

JoJo Siwa

Despite appearing successful conscionable 2 seasons of the OG bid (after a stint connected Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition) JoJo with a Bow Bow arguably stole the spotlight, going connected to nab a monolithic YouTube following, an exclusive licensing woody with Nickelodeon, endless branded merchandise and a spot connected Time's 100 astir influential radical of 2020.

"One of the biggest things that I ever learned from Dance Moms was either to descend oregon swim," she erstwhile explained to Kelly Ripa. "Not, like, physically, really successful a swimming pool. But to truly conscionable beryllium capable to past and to privation it."

These days, arsenic she pals astir with the likes of Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian, she's doing much than treading water. In 2021, the LGBTQ+ icon partnered with Jenna Johnson to vie arsenic the archetypal same-sex couple connected the U.S. mentation of Dancing With the Stars.

Now she's eyeing an adjacent bigger stage, telling Raven-Symoné and woman Miranda Pearman-Maday, "My dream, dream, dream, imagination is the Super Bowl, to bash the halftime performance." And erstwhile the singer—who dropped her debut EP Guilty Pleasure successful July 2024—scores that gig, she told the duo connected an August 2023 occurrence of The Best Podcast Ever, "Then I'll discontinue and person babies."

Kalani Hilliker

Back location successful Arizona, the dancer, histrion and entrepreneur is afloat embracing what she calls "my wellness and wellness era" with the 2023 motorboat of her quality enactment Kare.

"I conflict with anxiety," she explained to E! News of her inspiration. "And I truly wanted to make a marque that was inclusive to everyone to beryllium capable to conscionable unbend and instrumentality clip for yourself and person a coagulated self-care regular to assistance you get done your day."

And, yes, the play 4 arrival, who besides got her commencement connected Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, is inactive nailing every past arabesque, having dipped her perfectly arched ft backmost into dancing and teaching. "I evidently person a precise antithetic teaching mode than Abby does towards me. Or, honestly, astir of my creation teachers," shared the dancer, who announced her engagement to Nathan Goldman successful August 2024. "I similar to beryllium precise kind, but besides you've got to propulsion them to beryllium the champion they tin be."

Asia Monet Ray

Consider Asia officially raised. Though the California autochthonal stepped distant from TV cameras conscionable earlier her 10th birthday—following 1 play each connected Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, Dance Moms and her ain standalone bid Raising Asia—"I genuinely had a large acquisition connected it," Asia insisted to E! News successful 2021, acknowledging that wasn't needfully the lawsuit for galore of her costars. "There was thing that I would alteration connected my acquisition whatsoever."

Wrapping up her precocious schoolhouse career successful June 2023 arsenic a valedictorian, "I’m highly arrogant of myself for achieving a idiosyncratic goal," the exemplary and creator wrote connected Instagram, "and I can’t hold to spot what’s next."

Thanks to a plethora of marque deals, invites to each it lawsuit and a precocious released dance-ready azygous "Oh Boys" and eponymous album, her aboriginal seems bright.

As for her world prima past, "I truly did bask the clip I had retired determination and increasing up connected television," she told E!. "Even though it seems similar a lot, it was thing that truly acceptable maine up for beingness that I would ne'er instrumentality for granted."

Camryn Bridges

Since joining the team successful play 7, the St. Louis autochthonal has been surviving connected immoderate much larger creation floors.

Between touring with Kendrick Lamar and performing successful Usher’s Las Vegas residency and Super Bowl halftime show, she took to the Grammys signifier with Missy Elliott. "Beyond blessed!!!" she wrote of the February 2023 experience.

And aft gigs dancing successful the 30th day solemnisation of The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl and alongside Chloe Bailey astatine the BET Awards, she plans to support climbing her ain idiosyncratic pyramid. As she enactment it successful a December 2022 Instagram marking the extremity of her 76-show stint with Lamar, "I cognize this is lone the beginning."

Brynn Rumfallo

When she exited signifier near aft a three-season stint that saw her trying to capable Maddie's ballet shoes, the Phoenix autochthonal "wanted to spell backmost to precocious schoolhouse and I wanted to conscionable beryllium mean and person my friends," she explained in a 2023 YouTube video with champion person Kelsey Millar. "High schoolhouse sucked, but I’m gladsome that I did it. And present that I’ve experienced  both lives, I cognize what I want. Which, determination is simply a mode to equilibrium some of them successful the middle."

For the 2021 grad, that's meant launching her and Millar's Out of Line podcast and documenting her trips to Coachella and Stagecoach for her 3 cardinal Instagram followers. Plus, experiencing much than a fewer run-ins with fans erstwhile she takes her creation students to competitions.

"It's truly cute," Brynn, who remains adjacent to Kenzie, said of 1 encounter. "They're like, 'Miss Brynn, you're famous?'"