Maddie Ziegler Reflects On The ‘Toxic’ Environment On ‘Dance Moms’ Growing Up
17.06.2022 - 01:45
/ etcanada.com
Maddie Ziegler is finally speaking her truth about her peculiar upbringing.
The dancer-turned-actress is Cosmopolitan‘s cover star for their Issue 4: The Fame Issue. She spoke with the outlet about living in the public eye from a young age, and what she’s learned since leaving reality TV.
The moment Ziegler realized she was famous came quite early for the star.
“I was 8 and we were in an ice cream store, me and the girls from ‘Dance Moms’, and people were calling our names. We were weirded out, like, ‘How do they know our names?’” she recalled. “Then I noticed it gradually — everywhere we went, at any dance competition — swarms of people. It didn’t make me excited. In a way, I was kind of embarrassed.”
Ziegler was on six seasons of the reality show “Dance Moms” from 2011-2016. The show focused on a group of child dancers and their show moms, along with their demanding instructor Abby Lee Miller.
READ MORE: Sia Defends Her Decision To Cast Maddie Ziegler As An Autistic Character In New Movie ‘Music’: ‘I Can’t Do A Project Without Her
Living in the spotlight wasn’t all glamour, however, and the young star found herself judged based on her character on “Dance Moms”.
“People thought I was a brat because in all my interviews, I would say, ‘I’m the best. I know I’m going to win.’ But that’s because the producer was telling me to say that,” she shared. “I was just doing whatever they told me to do because I thought that’s what you did. They set you up for failure.”
Eventually the pressure and scrutiny of the public became too much and the dancer wanted out.
“I started to feel like, ‘It’s so peaceful outside of this world. I can’t be in this.’ My family and I really tried to leave for the last three seasons. But when