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So This Is Why Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler Quit ‘Dance Moms’ (No, We’re Still Not Over It)
We’re only days away from the Season 7B premiere of Dance Moms. And while we’re more stoked than ever for the show to return, we kind of wish sisters Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler would come back to the long-running Lifetime reality series.
As previously reported, the talented duo departed Dance Moms after six seasons in 2016, leaving fans absolutely devastated. The docuseries launched both girls’ careers and made them household names. So why did they decide to quit?
MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Abby Lee Miller Struggles in Prison After Dissing ‘Dance Moms’ Alum Maddie Ziegler
Well, as Maddie, 14, and 13-year-old Mackenzie’s fame grew, they had to make room for more opportunities in showbiz — and saying goodbye to the Abby Lee Dance Company was their first step. In September 2015, Maddie said that she was ready to move on to “bigger and better things.”
“I definitely want to be moving more into acting,” the young performer — who made a cameo on a June 2015 episode of Pretty Little Liars — told Entertainment Tonight of her future aspirations. ”Still keeping up my dancing, but also [do] movies and scripted TV shows.”
Since then, she has toured all over the world with Sia on the pop superstar’s Nostalgic for the Present Tour, and has appeared in several of her music videos. She will also star in the Australian musician’s upcoming self-directed film, Sister.
MORE: Maddie Ziegler Is Keeping a Very Level-Head When It Comes to Her First Boyfriend
In an August 2016 interview with Seventeen, Maddie explained how much better she feels after bidding farewell to Abby Lee Miller and her school of dance. “Leaving Dance Moms was a hard decision to make, but it was getting too stressful,” she said at the time. “Now, I feel like I’m so free.”
As for Mackenzie, she is focused on her singing career. The teen, who recently dropped her single “Teamwork,” opened up about her transition from Dance Moms into the music industry during a June appearance on Access Hollywood.
“I’m really excited because I started to write my own music now, which is awesome,” she said, adding that she has also caught a bit of the acting bug like big sis Maddie. “I’ve been doing a lot of auditions and going on, like, call-backs and stuff, which is really fun. But I think singing is more of what I want to do.”
Asked if she’s going to watch the new season of Dance Moms with Cheryl Burke (who replaced Abby Lee ahead of her prison sentence for fraud), Mackenzie said that she was unsure. “I don’t know if I’ll watch it. I’ll probably watch it just to see my friends because I really miss them,” she said. “But I’ve never really seen the show, so I don’t really wanna watch it because it’s just crazy, but maybe.”
Dance Moms returns to Lifetime on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at 9 p.m. EST.
