If you’re anything like me, you were raised on Dance Moms, but if you’ve been living under a rock, here’s the recap: the series follows a group of aspiring young dancers and their doting mothers, all under the direction of a notoriously harsh, yet passionate, dance coach. That dance coach is none other than Abby Lee Miller. After eight drama-filled seasons, it was a shock to everyone when Abby Lee Miller sold the famous Abby Lee Dance Company studio, but what’s even more shocking is her comeback to reality TV with the debut of Mad House.
Judging from the title and preview alone, Miller is back, and this time with even more drama. In the series, a team of dancers led by Miller will compete to stay in the “Mad House” and maintain their spot on the team week after week. “I am not looking for an elite team anymore. I’m looking for a professional working group of dancers,” Miller announced in the trailer. The team of dancers was assembled by Miller herself, but the show isn’t just about dancing. Each week the dancers are assigned chores in hopes of teaching them lessons in responsibility and independence. Each contestant has aged out of the competitive dance scene, and now they are preparing for their first paid gig. If anyone can get these dancers ready, we know it’s the infamous Abby Lee Miller.
There’s one main difference between this new show and Dance Moms though. Miller made it very clear that this is a hands-off experience, saying, “No moms allowed. I’ve had enough of the moms who think they know what’s best for their kids. I’ve been there and done that. Now these young adults fend for themselves. Will they show me they can be a star? Can they survive a house mother from hell!? Well, we will see won’t we.” If we thought Miller was tough on the girls from Dance Moms, I can’t even imagine how intense this new iteration of Mad House will be.
It seems like this may be another way for Miller to humiliate young dancers seeking her guidance, but perhaps Miller’s demeanor has changed in light of recent events. According to The U.S. Sun, despite the show’s success, Miller was facing financial struggles during the filming of her Lifetime show Dance Moms. In 2017, she was indicted by a Pittsburgh, PA grand jury on 20 counts of fraud and was accused of hiding a significant portion of her earnings from the hit show Dance Moms. Despite her initial plea of not guilty, Miller was sentenced to 366 days in prison in May of 2017. To make matters worse, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Fortunately for Miller, her ongoing health issues warranted an early release from prison in 2018, although she would go on to finish her sentence later. Unfortunately, though, Miller is now indefinitely confined to a wheelchair.
Since her incarceration and diagnosis, Miller says her perspective on life has changed immensely. “I say please and thank you at least 100 times a day and to strangers. When you are in a store, and I get caught in between the clothing racks, getting poked in the eye by the edges of hangers, just dropping things on the floor, dropping my car keys in the parking lot. All of those things become a huge problem. They are problematic,” she said. This has left fans, including myself, wondering if Mad House will be Abby’s opportunity to show off her newfound appreciation for life, or if it will be another excuse for her to humiliate and berate aspiring dancers.
Either way, get ready because Mad House premieres on Sep. 29 on a brand-new streaming app, Brandon TV, which launches the same day. The executive producer and founder of Brandon TV revealed, “We had an idea about what the show would look and feel like before we started filming, but the strong personalities on the show led us into a new direction. A series that really does bring Abby back in a big way.” Will this new Abby surprise us, or will Mad House be Dance Moms without the moms? We’ll see on Sep. 29.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest!