Maddie Ziegler is undoubtedly a dance prodigy- a young talented and up-and-coming star whose six years of life was placed under the prying eyes of the public through Lifetime's "Dance Moms." For the first time, Ziegler sisters' mom Melissa Gisoni finally opened up about Maddie's true character behind the camera.
Maddie Ziegler was catapulted to success following her breakout "Chandelier," "Elastic Heart", and "Cheap Thrills" performances. As Abby Lee Miller's Dance Company's (ALDC) most prized talent, she gained even greater public recognition after winning the Seriously Popular award over Kylie Jenner and the People's Choice Awards 2015 over super model Cara Delevingne.
As reported by Cosmopolitan, "Dance Moms" follows the basic formula for an exciting reality TV which include elements like growing tension leading up to a drama, mean girls, and a stunning breakout by a lead star.
In "Dance Moms" case, the breakout star was Maddie who rose to prominence in 2014, the time when another rising star, Chloe Lukasiak, exited the scene although both of them were known as rivals and best friends at the same time.
Despite trying her best to give her daughters a life with a semblance of normalcy, their growing fame suddenly became a challenging aspect of their lives. She even made it a point not to let her kids watch "Dance Moms" while still being part of the cast.
When her kids started becoming popular, she hired a social media manager to deal with an often rambunctious stream of comments, posts, and trolls from fans and critics alike. While she tried her best to keep them away from all the negative things about them on social media, her kids were then struggling with the fact that they simply could not please everyone.
"Kids like 12-year-olds who say mean things to you because they're bored bullies - that was the hardest part of the fame," said Melissa as quoted in a recent interview, International Business Times reported.
But since her daughters' departure from the show, Melissa is now happy that her kids have somewhat outgrown "Dance Moms" after being on the show for nearly six years adding that they are "pretty much done with it." Moreover, leaving the show was her girls' decision as they have gotten tired of their "Dance Moms" routine.
While it's true that ALDC head coach Abby Lee Miller did contribute so much to Maddie and Mackenzie's development, the reality series also pushed them back from moving forward with other opportunities outside the show.
"My kids told me they didn't want to do it anymore. When my kids aren't happy anymore, I don't care about anything else. Maddie couldn't do jobs because of her contract with Dance Moms. It was time to move on," Melissa admitted as quoted by the Inquistr.
