Maddie Ziegler Is Grateful for ‘Dance Moms’ Despite It Being Toxic
It’s no secret that Maddie Ziegler is one of the most successful members to come from the Dance Moms cast. Ziegler managed to capitalize on her fame from the reality TV show and launch a career in entertainment. Since leaving the show, she’s gone on to host TV shows, write books, and star in movies. The 20-year-old has even worked with world-famous director, Steven Spielberg.
Maddie Ziegler doesn’t remember a lot of her time on ‘Dance Moms’
Even though Ziegler got her start on reality TV, she doesn’t talk about her experience on Dance Moms often. In fact, the Bloody Hell actor has been candid about the fact that she doesn’t remember much of her time on the show. The dancer was only eight when she was cast on the show. Being young and surrounded by tons of drama caused a lot of her memories from that time to go missing.
The ‘Bloody Hell’ star has talked more openly about her experience on the reality TV show in recent years
When Ziegler does talk about the show, her commentary isn’t all too positive. In recent years, The Fallout actor hasn’t been afraid to call out the toxicity of the show. She’s shared that the teachings of her former dance teacher, Abby Lee Miller, weren’t healthy. Furthermore, she recognizes that the constant fighting and manipulation by the Dance Moms producers was detrimental, especially for young children.
Because Ziegler isn’t afraid to speak her truth, some critics accuse her of not being appreciative of her time on Dance Moms. However, that’s simply not the case. Even though Ziegler would never be on another reality TV show, she recognizes that she wouldn’t be where she is now without the show. Even still, she’s happy that her time on the Lifetime show is done forever.
Why Ziegler is grateful for ‘Dance Moms’ despite it being a toxic environment
“A lot of people say that I’m not grateful for being on the show that I was [on],” Ziegler explained to Nikkie Tutorials. “But I really am because it got me to where I am now. A lot of the things that show promoted is very not what I stand for. Like having an older woman yelling at kids and saying that we’re not this and that, you know, I obviously feel like that’s not a great environment, and I’m glad that we’ve grown up and gotten out of that.”
Ziegler and her sister tried to leave ‘Dance Moms’ in season 3
Turns out that Ziegler tried to leave Dance Moms long before her departure in season 6. The stressful environment made the dancer, her mom, and her little sister want to leave way back in season 3. Unfortunately, because they were locked into a contract, it took a while for them to leave. However, eventually, they got to make their exit, for which Ziegler is grateful.
Given what Ziegler and her sister went through during their tenure on Dance Moms, it’s no wonder they wanted to leave. And while Ziegler may be grateful to the reality TV shows in some ways, that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be able to speak her truth about it.
