‘Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller Gained This Much Weight Back Since Her Release From Prison
No matter how controversial the show may be, fans have been watching Dance Moms since it first aired in 2011. The show follows young dancers who attend the Abby Lee Dance Company, which is run by hard-working, no-nonsense Abby Lee Miller. We’ve watched Miller scream at the young dancing hopefuls, make them cry, and work them hard — but we’ve also seen her mold these young girls into total stars. Love her or hate her, there’s no doubt Miller is good at what she does.
After a long absence due to prison and then cancer, Miller is slated to return to the series for the upcoming season — and her looks have significantly changed over the years. While she lost a lot of weight, she also noted she gained some back. Here’s how much.
Abby Lee Miller had gastric sleeve surgery before her stint in prison
While she attained plenty of fame through Dance Moms, Miller seemingly hasn’t caught a break since 2017. Us Weekly reminds us she was ordered to serve 366 days in prison for bankruptcy fraud, and she also allegedly brought around $120,000 of Australian currency into the U.S without reporting it. On top of her time spent in jail, she was also ordered to serve years of supervised release time, and she had to pay a hefty fine. At the time, Miller told Us Weekly she wasn’t prepared at all for the sentence, but she knew she wanted to get right back into work when she was out.
Before Miller’s sentencing, Entertainment Tonight reminds us she underwent gastric sleeve surgery, too. The procedure would reduce her stomach size and help her achieve massive weight loss. While many seemed to question her timing considering she was getting the procedure done prior to learning of her sentence, she mentioned, “I think this is the right time” because “there’s no right time.”
Miller says prison was brutal — but she lost over 100 pounds
In a recent interview with Inside Edition, Miller explained just how difficult serving her eight-month sentence was for her. She claimed that the first day was the worst, as they tried to “rip my eyelashes off that were extensions,” and she also had her thyroid and diabetes medications taken away. On top of all that, she said the guards singled her out since they knew she was on TV, and they would shake cans of soda and spray them on her clothing.
Miller did manage to lose weight while in prison, though, which is something she really wanted. Inside Edition noted she lost 127 pounds while behind bars — and Entertainment Tonight noted around the 100-pound weight-loss mark, she was already looking into excess skin removal, a breast lift, and a tummy tuck. Unfortunately, the joy of her weight loss was short-lived, as she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after she fell severely ill when she was released to a halfway house and was discovered to have had a tumor wrapped around her spine.
She’s since gained 40 pounds back
Today, Miller noted to Inside Edition that after 10 rounds of chemotherapy and countless surgeries, she’s cancer-free — and judging from the Dance Moms Resurrection trailer, the star is more ready than ever to get back to working with all the young dancers at her company. Miller is still relearning how to walk, however, as the cancer ravaged her spine, leaving her in a wheelchair. She also mentioned that this resulted in her gaining quite a bit of weight back since her huge weight loss. Miller told Inside Edition that she gained 40 pounds back. As she said, “Well, I sit in a [wheelchair] and everyone wants to take me to lunch and take me to dinner.”
Considering how lucky Miller is to be on the mend and be a part of the Dance Moms community again, we’re sure weight loss isn’t her biggest priority at the moment, though. And fans are rooting for her to be able to walk again, too. We’ll have to wait and see what else she shares with us on Dance Moms Resurrection.
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