Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Dance Moms, Reality TV
Ilana Frost
We’ve finally arrived at May 1, a glorious, glorious holiday. I hope you’re ready to take a little trip to the Abby Lee Dance Company in the 2010s because Dance Moms: The Reunion premieres on Lifetime today at 8 p.m. ET/PT. To get in the right headspace, I’ll be doing the “Karma” dance all day and invite you to do the same. It’s not that hard, but you gotta give it your all. Icons JoJo Siwa, Brooke Hyland, Chloe Lukasiak, Paige Hyland, Kendall Vertes and Kalani Hilliker will all be at the reunion, and they’re about to spill gallons of boiling Abby Lee Miller tea. I can’t fucking wait.
However, a few stars of the Lifetime reality show noticeably declined the reunion invitation: Maddie Ziegler, Mackenzie Ziegler, and Nia Sioux. The Ziegler sisters chose not to participate for the sake of their mental health, according to their mother, Melissa Gisoni. Very fair. But why didn’t Nia make it to the Dance Moms reunion? Same reason? Conflicts? I was feeling upset, so I multitasked and conducted a Nia investigation while grooving to “Karma.”
The stans were desperate for some answers, so on April 30, Nia took to TikTok to clear the air. The dancer responded to a comment asking about her absence, emphasizing that she decided to answer because she didn’t want “a false narrative out there.” So true. It’s a dangerous game to let us come up with our own theories.
“Personally, I wasn’t going to say anything ’cause I just didn’t want to start drama — not that this would even start drama; it really shouldn’t,” she said. “And also, I didn’t want to make it because I don’t want it to seem like I’m searching for attention because I really don’t care. I really don’t need the attention.”
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The Dance Moms queen got real, and her answer is actually so relatable. “Hate to break it to you guys, but the reason is quite simple,” Nia continued. “I just really didn’t want to do it.” She clarified that she did not skip because of “sorority stuff” or school, concluding: “I just didn’t want to do it, and that’s a good enough answer and that’s a good enough reason.” I fully support skipping things just because.
Nia’s been booked and busy since her time on the epic reality show. Since her Abby Lee days, she’s had success vlogging on YouTube, worked on shows like The Bold and the Beautiful and Sunnyside UP, released a song called “Low Key Love,” and hosted her and Teala Dunn’s podcast, Adulting With Teala and Nia. These days, Nia attends UCLA where she’s in a sorority — Alpha Kappa Alpha, to be specific. Yeah, I’d say she’s doing just fine without making a reunion appearance.