LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The ‘Dance Moms’ alum, Maddie Ziegler who appeared on the show from 2011 to six seasons, recently opened up about her mother Melissa regretting the decision to put Ziegler on the dance reality show as a child. The ‘Ballerina’ star appeared on Emily Ratajkowski’s ‘High Low with EmRata’ podcast on Monday and bared her heart about her unpleasant experience in the show, revealing that her mother recently apologized to her for putting her through the ordeal.
The 20-year-old dancer was just seven when she first appeared on ‘Dance Moms.’ She participated along with her mother and her younger sister, Mackenzie. In her interview, Ziegler shared that she suffered panic attacks because of her horrifying experience on the set. During one such panic attack, she called her mother and Melissa apologized to her daughter for unintentionally hurting her.
Ziegler shared with Ratakowski, "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." The ‘Music’ star explained, "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."
Who is Melissa?
Maddie Ziegler’s mother Melissa was born on 13 June 1968 in New York City. She was previously married to Kurt Ziegler from 2000 to 2011 with whom she shares two daughters - Maddie and Mackenzie. After the pair divorced in 2011, Melissa married Greg Gisoni in 2013 with whom she shares three children.
While her primary claim to fame is by appearing in ‘Dance Moms,’ she has featured in several other shows also. She has appeared in ‘Todrick Hall: Freaks Like Me’ (2014) as a staff member, ‘The 47th Floor’ (2011) as Skylar Nae, and ‘Todrick Hall Feat. Abby Lee Dance Company: Dance’ (2016) as herself.
Melissa launched a podcast titled ‘Because Mom Said So’ in 2020 along with other ‘Dance Moms’ alums Kelly Hyland, Jill Vertes, and Holly Hatcher-Frazier. While she herself doesn’t have a college education, it is her dream to send her children to college and Broadway.
‘I just have to do whatever I'm being told’
Ziegler also opened up about her on-screen bratty persona being completely fabricated, saying that the male producers taught her to say haughty words on stage in the absence of Melissa. She revealed, "When I was doing the show, in the first season ... I was seven, there [were] male producers saying, 'This is what you have to say,'" before adding. "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.'"
Due to the carefully curated words, she was "perceived as a little brat in the first season.” However, despite Melissa putting her on the show in the first place, she tried her best to break the contract. Ziegler said, "[My mom] really did everything to try to break our contract and pull us out, and eventually did with the help of Sia.” it was the singer Sia, who ultimately “saved” them from the show. In return, Ziegler views the ‘Genius’ singer as her “guardian angel.”
