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JoJo Siwa Seemingly Shades Former Costar Maddie Ziegler for Skipping ‘Dance Moms’ Reunion
JoJo Siwa seemingly threw shade at former costar Maddie Ziegler after she skipped the Dance Moms reunion.
While JoJo, 20, was joined by Chloé Lukasiak, Brooke Hyland, Paige Hyland, Kendall Vertes and Kalani Hilliker in the upcoming Dance Moms: The Reunion special, Maddie, 21, Kenzie Ziegler and Nia Sioux were noticeably absent.
“Them not being here is kind of like, ‘Let me erase my past, pretend it never happened, shove it down the drain.’ When it’s like – that’s why you are who you are,” JoJo said in the trailer about her missing costars, while Kalani, 23, seemingly agreed as she nodded her head.
Kendall, 21, shared a similar sentiment when she reflected on the Zieglers and Nia, 22, missing the reunion. “We would not be here without Dance Moms,” she said. “It was literally the stepping stone into who we are today.”
Not only does the reunion feature the dancers, but their mothers – Jessalynn Siwa, Kelly Hyland, Jill Vertes, Kira Hilliker and Christi Lukasiak – will also make appearances to catch fans up on what they’re up to.
While the reality stars are expected to dish on several topics, one person they will reflect on is their former coach Abby Lee Miller. “It’s hard to say I forgive her when she did so many nasty things to me,” Paige, 23, admitted about Abby, 58, who was infamously harsh with the dancers.
Kendall added, “It’s just so bizarre that dance can get to that.”
Maddie’s absence from the special might not surprise fans, as the Fallout actress has openly discussed her complicated experience on the show over the years. “Last year, I was having a really bad panic attack and I called my mom and things were coming up from the past, and she apologized to me,” she recalled during a June 2023 episode of Emily Ratajkowski’s “HighLow With EmRata” podcast. “She was like, ‘I’m so sorry I put you through that.’”
She added that her mother, Melissa Gisoni, was “so sad” because she “never [wanted] to hurt us, but none of us knew how crazy it would get.””
Maddie then recalled a negative experience that took place while she was filming season 1 of the Lifetime show. “When I was doing the show, in the first season I was seven, there were male producers saying, ‘This is what you have to say,’” she explained. “My mom wasn’t in the room, so I was like, ‘OK, I just have to do whatever I’m being told.’ They would say, ‘Say you’re the best, say you’re better than everyone else, say blah blah blah.’”
The West Side Story actress added that the directions made her look like “a little brat.”
“I remember we watched the first episode at a viewing party for the launch of the show, and I just cried because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Everyone thinks I’m this b–h and I’m not. I’m seven!’” Maddie continued. “It was so weird. It helped me a lot to be able to be like, ‘I can say now. I can stand up for myself.’ But being so young, you don’t realize all those things.”
Dance Moms: The Reunion premieres on Lifetime Wednesday, May 1, at 8 p.m. ET.
