JoJo Siwa has come a long way since her days at the Abby Lee Dance Company. The dancer parlayed her experiences on Dance Moms into a highly successful social media career, made a historic run on Dancing with the Stars, and was a judge on the most recent season of So You Think You Can Dance. However, her start in the business was no walk in the park. Siwa recently posted some old Dance Moms clips to remind us all of what she went through under the direction of controversial dance teacher Abby Lee Miller, sparking outrage amongst fans, who hit the comments section.
The “Boomerang” singer was 9 years old when she competed on the second season of the Dance Moms spinoff Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, before joining the Lifetime flagship series. Ten years later, the dancer is looking at just how far she’s come, reflecting on some particularly tough moments from early in her career in a recent TikTok post:
@itsjojosiwa ♬ original sound - TV show edits
Wow, and she says Candace Cameron Bure is the rudest celebrity she’s met? Maybe she wasn’t thinking of Abby Lee Miller as a celebrity. The clips start with a “homework assignment” in which the dance instructor made JoJo Siwa’s peers read the reasons they thought Siwa didn’t belong at the studio. The young dancer silently cried as the other girls called her “too loud,” said she had “some timing issues,” and took “opportunities from people who have been here longer.”
Other scenes included in the post showed Miller calling her a “greedy little monster,” and one of the moms saying she was “one of the worst dancers on the team.” Fans seemed to be horrified by just the small taste of what JoJo Siwa experienced on Dance Moms, and they expressed their disbelief in the comments section:
- I saw that episode and I started to cry that was so messed up for Abby to have the girls write that about you – Lauren iverson
- As a mom this makes me so angry… adults picking on children for what?! – Maggie Hill
- The manipulation and hate that all of you went through is horrific! So happy to see you on top and thriving! You are so strong! – Zachariah
- The trauma… its so unfair how this show was cruel – Dentifrice Cosplay
- It was real time bullying 🥺honestly you’re amazing for being able to rise above ❤️ – Linds
- It’s so vile that children were on this programme. It was reliant on hurting them <\3 – Metal Fairy Wings
The commenters seemed particularly upset with the homework assignment that pit the ALDC team members against JoJo Siwa, with many wondering not just how Abby Lee Miller could do such a thing, but how Jessalynn Siwa and the other mothers could stand by as it was happening. More reactions included:
- There’s no amount of $ or fame in the world that would ever make this okay to do. Abby & those moms should be ashamed of themselves – allistermarie
- It is also so messed up the mom’s let their kids do that “homework.” – J B
- I honestly don't know how any parent could sit back and be okay with their kid taking part in writing bad about their teammates. you deserved better – ghostgrl
What may be the most surprising thing to come out of this is that JoJo Siwa is apparently the only dancer from the show who still talks to Abby Lee Miller, as the dance teacher revealed when calling out her former students for not contacting her when she was in prison. Miller also spoke out in support of Siwa when she came out in 2021.
Maddie Ziegler, another Dance Moms alum and former So You Think You Can Dance judge, also spoke about her experience on the Lifetime reality show, telling Cosmopolitan in 2021 that she was “set up to fail” and was under constant stress as a child. She confirmed she has not spoken to Abby Lee Miller, nor has she watched old episodes of the show.
If you want to see more of what went down at the Abby Lee Dance Company, Dance Moms is available for streaming with a Hulu subscription, and check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what other shows are headed our way soon.
