Nine years of being the star of ‘Dance Moms’ comes to an end

Abby Lee Miller announces she’s leaving the Lifetime hit reality show

Jessica Simms, Managing Editor

Nine years of directing, teaching and choreographing for her champion dancers in front of the eyes of millions has come to an end. Dance teacher Abby Lee Miller took to Instagram on May 5, to say her final goodbye to the hit Lifetime reality show, “Dance Moms.” This post is no longer on Miller’s feed.

“Thank you Lifetime for an incredible run and all I have learned,” Miller wrote on Instagram. “But I have decided to move on and not extend my agreement.”

Screenshot from Jessica Simms
This post from Miller’s Instagram has since been deleted.

The photo Miller used for this deleted Instagram post was of her signing her first contract with Lifetime, and the majority of the photo caption was Miller reminiscing on the opportunities she received by being a part of “Dance Moms.”

“Nine years ago, we were in AZ filming Dance Moms,” Miller wrote. “Satan stuck a pen in my hand insisting that I sign a contract! I was at the competition, literally in front of the stage, rehearsing a routine. I was kinda busy! I did my 8 seasons, 2 spin offs and now a new self contained competition show in the midst of our global pandemic.”

“Dance Moms” was first aired on Lifetime in 2011 and followed Miller teaching her award-winning dancers different routines. Miller pushed the envelope by having her dancers perform some controversial and dark dances with a few of her more well-known pieces being about texting and driving, mental illness and missing children.

By Season 7, Lifetime had to bring in Cheryl Burke, an American dancer, and Laurieann Gibson, a Canadian choreographer, to host the show while Miller was sentenced to prison for 366 days for bankruptcy fraud. However, she was released early after displaying good behavior.

In April 2018, Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, following an emergency spinal surgery. After the diagnosis, Miller underwent a lot of treatment and relearned how to walk after spinal surgery in addition to chemotherapy. In May 2019, Miller announced that she was cancer-free.

Even though Miller was not finished with her journey to recovery, she made her reappearance on “Dance Moms” for its eighth season, “Dance Moms: Resurrection.”

Miller said that her motivation to push through her treatment and recovery stemmed from her future dreams.

“I pushed through because I feel like I have more to do,” Miller said to People. “I want to be an executive producer. I have three other shows and a cartoon that I’ve created. I want to do what I really do — I create. I can make something magical and wonderful out of nothing. I do it every week.”

Despite announcing that she is leaving “Dance Moms,” Miller gave her fans hope by saying she will be sharing new projects and ideas in the future on her Instagram page.

“The next few weeks will be about exploring new projects at a new home,” Miller wrote on Instagram. “It’s an exciting time and more announcements to come!”