" It really in truth matte like fold the book onDance Moms , which was good for me . I needed that closure to move on and kind of leave Chloé fromDance Momsin the past and go forward as my own item-by-item ego . "
THEN: It’s so wild to think thatDance Momsfirst aired 13 years ago. Do either of you remember your first reaction to hearing Lifetime was going to make a TV show about the Abby Lee Dance Company?
Chloé : Well , really , what was unlike aboutDance Moms , was that we ’ve fuck each other since we were , like , 2 . I signify , there were different dancers in our residential district who were n’t regurgitate on the show , so it did kind of deepen a lilliputian bit . But I ’ve known Paige since , I think , our first dance division . And Brooke was her older sister . I project her around . We were n’t snug friends because she was part of an older group , but I know her . We were friends , but not as closemouthed as Paige and I were . And I ’ve hump Nia a long time . And then Maddie fare after . And so , I think that was what ’s really interesting about that finicky mold ofDance Moms — we really have a really constitutional bond and a lot of story . And when we first rule out [ about the show ] , it was only supposed to be , like , six episodes . So , we were like , " Oh , this will be cool . perchance it ’ll be beneficial on our résumé in a duo of years , " and then it became , like , a totally dissimilar experience .
I think of my mammy take auditions on her little snotty-nosed photographic camera . I was like , " Okay , yeah , sure , whatever . " And then , it was weird because I did not realise I was on areality showuntil I was , like , 17 . That sounds crazy to say , but I was like , " Oh , that was , like , a show that hoi polloi watch . " To me , that was just my liveliness .
Christi : For me , when they put up a be sick call , I was one of the first people to bug out communicating with the casting conductor . The whole premise of the show changed as he got to know the studio . And he was like , " Oh , everything I ’m reckon for is in this one position . " He was really looking for multiple moms across unlike position . And actually , it was Abby [ Lee Miller ] , who called me in December — Chloé and Paige were induce a sleepover at my house . You guys were dance to " Santa Baby " in some uncanny outfits — but Abby was like , " lifespan is concerned in the show . " And then she ’s like , " You ’re gon na be hearing back , " and then they came in to take in January .
True story : She really sent Kelly and me toNew Yorkto get out of the way . Just likeCinderellaand her stepsisters ! She sent us away so we could n’t be taped . But I was talking to all of the producer who knew that we were being sent by , so they came the night before to do our auditions . But yeah , she tried to get disembarrass of us , which tracks so far , right ?
Then , it was February 28 — I have a weird matter with dates — that [ Dance Momsexecutive producer ] Bryan Stinson shout me , and he said the show ’s been pick up six episode . I asked who was in the cast . And he read , " Well , it ’s you , Kelly [ Hyland ] … " And I was like , " Hooray ! " Then he said Melissa and Holly [ Frazier ] , and I was like , " Holly ? ! " and I say , " Oh , they need someone normal . Got it . " Then he say , " And then another womanhood nominate Cathy [ Nesbitt - Stein ] . " And I said , " Well , what ’s she like ? " And he break down , " Oh , you ’ll find out . "
We started filming on April 5 — like , six workweek later — and again , it was only supposed to be six episode ; the first half ended up being seven instalment because there was so much play that happened in the first week that they had to , like , split it . Before we were even on Episode 4 , they came to us and said , " The web thinks that this is go to be a big show . And we ’re decease to shoot six more episode this summer ; pack your bag . " I was like , " I have a 1 - year - old . What am I supposed to do with her ? " And they tell , " wreak her ! " So it was weird , godforsaken life . But to what Chloé said , we were still live in the same house . We were going to the same studio . We were hanging out with the same people . We were browse in the same place . The only thing that was different is that they had a work party that they got to be friend with and that they like .
Chloé : We were still going to school , too . I finger like a lot of young star start homeschooling and move to LA , but nothing alter for us . So , I think that ’s why a pile of us are still pretty normal and processing it all as normal as possible .
NOW: And then you both ended up leaving the show briefly — what made you want to come back for this reunion special? Did either of you have any worries about what the reunion would be like?
Chloé : Honestly , and not in an arrogant way at all , but I know they would be talking about all of the cast member , anyway . So I was like , I ’d rather be there and be able-bodied to take control of my narrative . Because the reason I was against it is because I feel really nervous , and it felt like something in the past . I was like , " Well , I ’m gon na be anxious anyway , " you know ? And I ’d probably be anxious about what ’s become to happen even if I was n’t on it . So I was like , it ’s better to just go on and be capable to feel assured about everything . I need to be capable to just go and speak my mind and address some of the issue that we never got to babble about before . It really rightfully felt like close up the book onDance Moms , which was proficient for me . I require that closing to move on and kind of leave Chloé fromDance Momsin the past and go forward as my own single ego .
Christi : I was n’t there when they filmed the reunification ; I had other obligations . I call in and FaceTimed quite a few times because I could n’t stay , not knowing what was cash in one’s chips on . So , I was very much still a part of it . I just was n’t on localization . But I was get the details from all sorts of dissimilar people throughout the day , like from various producer , from the Kyd , from the moms . I very much feel like I was part of it for sure . And it kill me not to be there . Because , like Chloé say , you ’ve got to speak up and say your piece . But I knew that if there was something they speak about that was related to me , I knew that she would have my back . And she did . So , it ’s all come full circle .
THEN: Did you actually know who was coming back for the special before actually coming to set? Or was it a surprise for both of you?
Chloé : No , I knew aright away . It was like , we see about the reunion , and in the group chat it was like , " Okay , who ’s doing it ? " Yeah , lots of yell . quite a little of like , " Oh , I do n’t have intercourse … " Lots of period of play - by - drama .
NOW: From social media, it seems like you’ve both kept in touch with the other girls and moms from the show. How has it been maintaining those friendships with everyone throughout the years, outside of the context of the series?
Chloé : I mean , like , going through an experience like that is unlike any other . Even without the show , honestly , I think I would have stay in close middleman with those girls just because we were grow up on a contention team together . That already form a strong attachment , let alone going through what we go through together . They ’re some of the only human relationship in my life that I can say are all bulletproof . Like , I could not see them for 10 years , and I ’d see them again , and I ’d feel completely comfortable with them . Like no time has passed . We might not live what each other has done for the past 10 years , but I get it on that we have a friendly relationship that ca n’t be broken .
It was really unexpended to go from seeing each other all the metre to [ not ] get a line each other at all . We all went on our own paths and have our own career directions . Everyone ’s doing their own affair now , so it ’s hard to conserve never-ending contact . But I continue really close with Nia because we both moved to LA at the same sentence and started college at the same time .
Christi : I have a group schmoose with all the moms . I peach to some mom more than the others . We all have unlike personalities , clearly . I mean , again , like Chloé said , they have a particular bond , like we have a particular bond certificate that nobody would ever realize . I speak to Kelly quite a moment still , and we have our podcasts that we do every workweek . That ’s been a really interesting journey for the two of us to go back and revisit those old moments and watch them , but I think it ’s kind of therapeutic for the two of us to go through it together . We ’re relive the fun side that perchance the fans or the spectator did n’t get to see , which I think is helpful for us to remember . It was n’t just all the negatively charged stuff that people watched . We had a lot of really safe stuff , too .
Those two — [ Chloé ] and Paige — were always turning up the heat in our way at nighttime because we would have sleepovers . And they would go in and change by reversal the heating plant up to 95 , and we ’d wake up in the eye of the night , like , " What is expire on ? ! " and we ’re like , " Those jerk ! " [ Laughs ]
Chloé : Yes ! On Saturday dark after the competition , the girls would go in one way , and a mom would have to allow for the room and go sleep in another . So yeah , Paige and I often did that — we did a set of things . [ Laughs ] We were known as the " twinnies , " but then we became " twinnie " prankster . We were putting toothpaste in Oreos , and we were just honestly menaces to beau monde .
THEN: Chloé, you had some of the most beautiful dances during the show; are there any that stick out to you as your favorites? Or even any that you’re most proud of?
Chloé : Oh my good . I ’m trying to opine … the retentiveness I have on leg are mainly just the sentence I forgot the dances . I ’d be like , " I do n’t live how to do improv ! " One of my favorite was"Lucky Star . “I was in a enceinte costume . They all blend together . Like , they ’re all the same gens and about some principal . I loved"Unchained . “That was one of my favorite solos . There was another one , oh what was it call off ? It was a solo I did . With the buff .
Christi : It was like a Spanish number . It was pretty ! You just found that not too long ago .
Chloé : My turns see proficient ! Ca n’t call up the name of the next time you reply . I ’ll look it up . But I really liked that song as well .
[ Reader , in case you ’re wondering , the name of the dancing is"Fired Up . " ]
Christi : I loved"Into Me,“which I did n’t realize I loved until later when I function back and take in it . There was something very raw about Chloé at that item . It ’s awful to take care back on and imagine about what she could have been going through . But I intend , that turn , for whatever reason , was the first dance after the Hylands left . And there was something just really vulnerable about that turn that now I look back on , and it , like , tugs at my heart . But I think the one that just abide out to me , because it was still very novel , and the show had just go , was"Dream on a Star . “So , you had fire , principal , and birds .
Chloé : I do n’t commend " Into Me . " I ’m gon na have to watch it .
BuzzFeed : Literally , after this audience , you ’re gon na have to commit all these dances up .
Chloé : I know , I know ! There was a sword lily dance at one point . I know we dance in boot , which made costumes . I remember a few random tidbits about the dance . [ Laughs ] I remember I kill a hatful of people when I wasBlack Swanand in"Where Have All the Children go ? "
Christi : You broke Mackenzie [ Ziegler ] ’s neck in"Amber Alert . “You shot Maddie [ Ziegler ] in"Runaways . "
Chloé:[Laughs ] I guess something about me just screams homicide !
Christi : We have all the costumes at family . We could go back and take them out and talk about each one .
NOW: Chloé, you stepped away from dance, too. What made you want to come back and create your own dance competition, Elevé?
Chloé : I always knew I ’d come in back to trip the light fantastic toe in some style . I just did n’t know what way of life that was . I could n’t really see myself turning around and dance again . Honestly , I believe that ’s just something I have to come to on my own , not really , like I ’ve done it before . It ’s just a natural progression , eventually , maybe or never .
But I love that there was something missing regarding the show . Like , I ’ve always been so grateful because it devote me so many opportunities . And it completely shift my life . But it feel like there was some sort of full circle moment that was n’t encounter specifically with dancing . I went through what I go through , not just on a TV show , but the negativity I experienced from my dance teacher was for a rationality . And I was like , " What is that reason ? " I really contemplate it for a couple of years . And then it slay me .
About two summer ago , we were sitting down and chatting because my mom is also a cofounder of Elevé and our two kinfolk Friend . And I was just like , " Well , what if we did our own competition , like what if we change the narrative ? " Aside fromDance Moms , the dance world is notoriously toxic and pretty negative . So , I thought , what if we kind of create this beacon fire of profitableness and this surroundings that people have sex when they come , they ’ll still get good critique , they ’ll still be improving , and still be in the room with cracking professionals who are judging them , and …
Christi : And also helping them with their careers . I ca n’t evidence you how many of our justice have reach out to people .
Chloé : Yeah . They ’re gaining something from it . They bed that when they go , they ’re get to have an amazing experience . It ’s going to hook them up , rekindle their passionateness , and be like a solemnisation of dance . [ My mom ] has been a enceinte part of this . We ’re cofounder . So , it ’s interesting to put our question together . A former dance momma and a former dancer , we have two different perspectives .
Christi : And I love first of all , I sleep together how entrepreneurial and business - minded Chloé is ; that gain me super proud . I have always felt up that that ’s an important trait to instill in my girls , especially . And she ’s very youthful , but you would n’t recognise it because her business capitulum is impeccable . When I walk into those competition , it really is fishy because it feel very much like habitation , like we belong there . I look around a couple of weeks ago , and I was like , I ’m still a dance mom . I ’m just a saltation mom to a mountain of kids now . The minute , like , a child is struggling , she and I , even if we ’re at the front , are like , " You conk or am I ? " Can we aid ? Can we give them a peppiness talk ? It just makes me really majestic .
So to me , she said it always felt like something was miss ; it feels almost weird to compare it , but you knowSilence of the Lambs ?
Chloé:[Laughs ] Like I said , something about me shout out homicide !
Christi : Like , I feel like Chloé , you had to go through a pyramid so as to , like , get to the part where she was a positivistic role model . [ Laughs ] But my breaker point is , that you had to go through the trauma you went through in purchase order to root on others . That ’s the takeaway ! The lamb had to scream , Chloé !
THEN: Almost every fan I’ve talked about the series with agrees that you have one of the best mother-daughter relationships on the show. Were you expecting such a strong fan reaction when you first began the series?
Christi : No , not at all . If anything , I think I was probably really disturbed about that . Because I mean , fans will fare after you for anything and everything . And recently , there were some things that come out that they ’re like , " Oh , here ’s a video of Christi shout at Chloé from back in the solar day . " I ’m like , " Yes , I scream at my kidskin ! " Like , I had short - tempered moments , to be honest . But I was always thankful that they would show the positive sides of our relationship and that hoi polloi identified with it . But I did n’t quite realize how many people would withstand on to that so dear . And it ’s really nice to hear that .
NOW: And now after all those years on the show and being in the public eye, how has that affected your relationship, if at all?
Christi : I guess we ’re very normal . I think we go through ebbs and flows . I think we go through times when we ’re super close . I call back we go through times where we ’re like , " Ugh , get away from me . " I reckon one of the thing that I really had to do , for me as a mommy , and I think any parent will identify with this , is let your kids go through periods of their lifespan where they agitate away and draw aside from you . I particularly find oneself this with Clara , who ’s 14 . That happens in third-year high . Chloé was with me in third-year high gear , so there was none of that . So , actually , I conceive that that drive and draw happened after for Chloé . But I definitely think we come back together always , because she ’s my favorite somebody . Other than Clara , you guys are adequate . Nobody ’s my favorite .
Chloé : I was just going to say that her favourite cat is her best-loved shaver ever . Her name is Nellie because she ’s the prettiest cat .
Christi : It ’s hard , but it ’s precious . I know I like Nellie the most , but I love you hombre , too .
THEN: What do you hope fans will get from watching the reunion all these years after the series ended?
Chloé : I’m just really excited that they get to get wind our view . I reckon everyone obviously spring opinions and drew their own finis watching the show . I imply , with reality TV , it ’s tricky . It feel like there are no bound , no credit line , like the audience feel like they ’re as much a part of it as we are . It was just really interesting to be able to speak , or I keep saying this , but speak our mind because when we were on the show untried , we did n’t really talk ; we just stay on microscope stage . So , we did have a lot of thought . And I always say I wish I had experienced it as an older teenager . Kendall even talk about this a lot in the reunion , or perchance it ’s Brooke . But she articulate she would have say a lot more back to Abby . We just had to stand there and take it , partly because we were so young and partly because that was just the established moral force . If we were older teenagers , we could have , you know , been like , " That ’s not necessary . You do n’t involve to say that . "
Christi : You guys are a niggling bit more politically right than your mothers . Because we suppose it , just not like that . [ Laughs ] I think that what people will take away is that these girls are incredibly well - adjusted , grounded , and really beautiful . I stand for , of trend , they ’re beautiful girls , but they ’re beautiful people , too . I get really excited . I was talk to her friend this morning . And I read , " I jazz these girls . " Like , I sleep with that I get to see them all tonight . And every meter somebody has success , I am so proud of them . It ’s really exciting for me , and for the fandom , to see them as not little girls but these incredible charwoman that they ’ve all become .
BuzzFeed : perfectly ! There ’s a lot of important dialogue in good order now about the"toddler to train - wreckpipeline,“so it ’s amazing to see you all thrive in your own lives .
Chloé : Exactly . pass back to what I said earlier , I think it ’s because we never had that big chemise where a lot of masses ’s lives would be uprooted and moved to LA with new Friend and surrounded by grownup things as baby . It ’s just a lot . I mean , do n’t get me awry , we were surrounded by adult problem , you know , we ’re basically work a 9 - to-5 every day . But , you know , I still stimulate up at 6 and conk out to school day by 7 and was in school until 3 , and then I drove to dance family . And then I went to dance class ; there just find to be a tv camera there .
So it was a great deal less intense of a change at once . Everyone hold back asking , " Why are you also normal ? " And I think it ’s because of that . I did n’t move to LA officially until I was 18 . And I was like , " give thanks God I was n’t here before ; no wonder masses become so wearied or go down the incorrect itinerary . " It ’s a very toxic environment . You just come into it , and it becomes like survival mode .
Christi : And you guys all had really good mommy . It ’s true . Like , even though we always get the unsound rap , I still say you guys are reflections of us . And , I will say this about every unmarried mom on the show : Regardless of what my relationship looked like on television , I would trust those women with my children anytime , anywhere . And I do reckon that there ’s something to be said about having us in their corner . I ’m gon na take a short act of course credit , [ express mirth ] but you guys are amazing . All on your own .
BuzzFeed : Totally ! And as a witness , Christi , no matter how hectic it get down , it was always seeming that you were coming from a place of love life and protection for the girls .
Christi : And Kelly really struggles , I reckon , with that in the reunion , which , again , I have n’t seen it . I was n’t there . But she and I ’ve had conversations about it . She carries a stack of inside turmoil about that , and she ’s go to talk about it in the reunification . So , I think that ’s go to be an interesting insight for people , too .
NOW: Finally, if you could go back in time — knowing what you know now about how the series unfolded — would you still want to be a part of it?
Christi : Yep . Because I do n’t require to live with rue . That was a really grown choice . It was a learning experience that has influence my family , my children , and my life . I would have done it otherwise , though .
Chloé : I acknowledge I would n’t deepen a single moment of it . Because I powerfully consider that everything happens for a reason . I ’m a big luck somebody . And it was clearly in my cards to experience that and go through it exactly as I did just at the age that I was . Because it taught me a draw about life and gave me a lot of interesting perspectives on the world . I grew a thick skin , learned empathy , and learned to work hard . I think it completely had a hired hand in shaping who I am . And I would n’t need to change that , or my experiences . So , I would n’t change a single import of it .
A pair of months ago , my sis say to me , like , " I wish I could take all that away from you . " I was like , " Oh , I would n’t swop it for the domain . " Like , even as bad as it was , I would rather have that experience than maybe an easy perspective or a unlike perspective . Because every hour of it forge who I am today , and will affect who I am later on in life . So , no , I ’m grateful for every minute , even the really bad part .
