TELLY’S most tantrum-filled talent show is back! Dance Moms: A New Era brings you more mama drama, big bust-ups – and a tough new coach training tomorrow’s stars.
The original Dance Moms quickly won an army of fans when it launched in 2011.
Child dancers fiercely competed to impress hard-to-please teacher Abby Lee Miller (top) and claim their spot at the top of her infamous points pyramid.
This first series made superstars of students like Jojo Siwa and Maddie Ziegler.
It also thrust the super-protective mums into the spotlight as they schemed against each other and rowed with Abby, who ruled her dance studio with an iron fist.
Expect more twists, turns, tempers and dazzling performances in Dance Moms: A New Era, with nine episodes now streaming on Channel 4.
Abby Lee’s replacement Glo Hampton battles to take her young charges and her dance school Studio Bleu in Virginia, USA, to the next level – entering them for national competitions each week.
Rivalries have sprung up right from the start. In the first episode, one of the students, 13-year-old dance prodigy Audrey, is meant to help fellow student Mina nail some tricky moves during a lunch break.
Instead she chooses TikTok over teamwork, scrolling on her phone instead of supporting Mina, eight – which has the mums complaining.
Audrey’s decision goes down especially badly with Mina’s mum, Min – cue the fireworks!
Min and the other mums waste no time tearing into Audrey’s mother, Tammi, questioning her daughter’s leadership ability.
But Audrey and Tammi fight back, telling the mums that a child shouldn’t be shouldering responsibility for the rest of the team.
So tension is already bubbling, and the drama is just getting started!
As fans celebrate the excitement of this new chapter, we look back at some of the unforgettable moments from the original Dance Moms that thrilled millions.
Ice scream
When the drama gets too much, sometimes you just need to escape.
And for coach Abby Lee Miller, that meant going straight to a police station.
After rival dance studio owner Tammy Croftcheck confronted her for being on her phone during a student’s competition performance, Abby decided she’d had enough.
In an inevitably dramatic exit, she declared: “I’m gonna go to Baskin Robbins!”
But ice cream wasn’t on the menu. Instead Abby went to the police, and afterwards claimed she’d filed a complaint against Tammy.
Don’t bow down
Fans adore JoJo Siwa for her high-energy pop songs and her loved-up romance with reality hunk Chris Hughes. But let’s not forget where it all started – Dance Moms!
She burst onto the scene with her killer dance moves, glittery outfits and sharp comebacks.
Aged just 11, she even faced off against the queen of drama herself, Abby Lee Miller.
Abby clashed with JoJo and her mum, Jessalyn, after JoJo was ranked low on the pyramid for scoring fifth place in that week’s competition.
Abby blamed the position on JoJo not getting into her possessed character enough as JoJo refused to watch a scary movie to avoid nightmares.
Jessalyn continued to defend JoJo but things escalated when Abby removed JoJo from the pyramid, declaring she “deserves nothing” and criticising her tears saying, “You can’t stand there and cry.”
JoJo, never one to back down, hit back with her iconic line: “If you yell at me, I’m gonna cry,” which resulted in her being kicked out of the dance studio.
However, after a quick chat with her mum, JoJo showed her maturity by returning to apologise, proving she was the bigger person in the end. Classic JoJo drama with a touch of heart!
Dressing room clash
The first Dance Moms was packed with explosive moments, but Season 4, Episode 7 – Big Trouble in the Big Apple – delivered one of the most jaw-dropping showdowns.
Dance mom Kelly Hyland felt Abby showed favouritism towards other dancers instead of her daughters Brooke and Paig.
So during a competition in New York, she decided to tackle the issue head on with Abby in the dressing room.
Things quickly spiralled out of control during the explosive clash. Kelly pointed her finger in Abby’s face, and the coach started making biting gestures.
Next Kelly pulled Abby’s hair, and the girl dancers were left in tears. Afterwards Kelly and her daughters quit the show for good.
Amazing moves
The drama was next level, but Dance Moms also gave us plenty of dazzling performances that amazed fans.
Among them was Maddie Ziegler’s unforgettable contemporary solo, Cry, which helped catapult her to stardom and made her a household name.
A tearjerking moment came with JoJo Siwa’s stunning dance, Faith Is All I Need, a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother Kathy, who had cancer.
These standout dances prove it wasn’t just the drama keeping us hooked – the talent was right up there too!
Stream Dance Moms: A New Era and the original Dance Moms on Channel 4
