If you've ever watched an episode of Dance Moms, then you likely know just how brutal the series was on the little girls who were a part of the reality show. Maddie Ziegler, a former participant on the show, recently opened up about her experience. On the High Low with EmRata podcast, the 20-year-old dancer shared with Emily Ratajkowski that her mother even apologized for putting her through the show.
Maddie was 7 years old when she first appeared on the show. She remained for six seasons before making an exit in 2016. "When I was doing the show, in the first season … I was 7, there [were] male producers saying, 'This is what you have to say,'" Ziegler 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.'"
Playing into the fake persona upset Maddie a lot, knowing that others perceived her as bratty and mean. The dancer's mom struggled to break the contract, but revealed that singer Sia stepped in to help. "It's weird to find out things that I did when I was younger on TikTok. I'll see people posting things of me, and I'm like, 'I don't even remember doing that,'" she shared.
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Maddie shared that her mom had regrets about putting her through the show. "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 said. "She was like, 'I'm so sorry that I put you through that.' It's so sad because she would never want to hurt us, but none of us knew how crazy it would get."
