‘Dance Moms’ Officially Canceled After Abby Lee Miller’s Cancer Diagnosis
Jan. 4 2019, Updated 10:21 a.m. ET
Abby Lee Miller will not be giving an encore. RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal Dance Moms has been officially canceled after the convicted felon’s cancer diagnosis.
"Dance Moms was set to return with the mini team,” a source close to production told RadarOnline.com. “It was in development, casting was under way to 'cover up' for the older girls.”
The insider claimed Miller, 51, agreed to return to the Lifetime show under the condition that Junior Elite Competition team members Nia Sioux, Kendall Vertes, Kalani Hilliker, Cameron Bridges and Chloe Lukasiak would not be part of the series.
“Then when she was released, all of this happened,” the source said of her Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis. “The show was put on hold temporarily and now has been canceled completely. Dance Moms will never create another episode. The network feels as though it would be toxic to bring it back to life in another way with someone else.”
But that’s not the only show the network canned.
“They were trying to do an Abby’s hospital recovery show,” the insider said. “A comeback, a different angle to the franchise. But she just can’t with the treatment and the inevitable.”
Miller has been undergoing chemotherapy to battle the illness, but the treatment hasn’t been as effective as doctors had hoped.
“They are not sure she is going to recover from or make it at this point,” an insider previously told RadarOnline.com. “It is so bad. They are waiting for tests results to come back and then they would know more.”
The source added that she “can’t stop crying,” as the pain is “so much deeper than physical at this point.”
As RadarOnline.com reported in March, Dance Moms was in talks to return with Miller.
“Technically everyone’s contracts are still in effect, so it depends on if there is interest for people to see Abby again,” a source close to production told RadarOnline.com. “We might be working with her, but we also might not be.”
Dance Moms star Ashlee Allen sparked rumors of the show returning when she posted a photo of her daughter Brynn Rumfallo alongside co-stars Lilly Ketchman and Elliana Walmsley with the caption, “Already a year ago? Time flies. I think we may be seeing these two and @maesicaesofficial sometime soon!”
Miller quit Dance Moms in March 2017.
“I will no longer take part in Dance Moms,” Miller captioned a photo of her winning nationals team, which included Rumfallo, Ketchman, Walmsley and Caes. “For the past six years/seven seasons I have asked, begged and even demanded creative credit for all the ideas, award winning routines, themes and costuming – To no avail!”
She continued, “I don’t have a problem working with any kid, I love children and have dedicated my life to making other people’s children successful. I just have a problem with being manipulated, disrespected and used day in and day out by men who never took a dance lesson in their lives and treat women like dirt!”
The dancers who chose to continue working with Miller beat out members Sioux, Vertes, Hilliker, Bridges and Lukasiak who danced under 8 Count Dance Academy at nationals.
Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke took over the final episodes of season seven.
Miller pled guilty to not reporting an international monetary transaction and one count of concealing bankruptcy assets in June 2016. Miller was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release in May 2017.
She was released from Victorville to a halfway house in Van Nuys, California on March 27.
Lifetime did not respond to RadarOnline.com's request for comment.
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