The most common question for every mother on Dance Moms: Why do they stay on the show to face the wrath of Abby Lee Miller? Never was that a more obvious than in the case of Chloe Lukasiak, who was a phenomenal dancer and a genuinely sweet girl, but horribly mistreated by Abby.
Chloe and her mother Christi Lukasiak finally left the show in season 4 over Abby’s abhorrent treatment of Chloe – Abby went so far as to mock Chloe’s appearance – and for the fist time Christi is speaking out about their time on the show and what finally prompted her to cut ties with Lifetime and Dance Moms.
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Christi insists remaining on the show was never about her own quest for fame. Or Chloe’s. “I think I’m just a mom who’s trying to help her daughter,” she stated to Australia’s The Morning Show.
The host referred to Abby’s behavior as “abusive” and called her a “major bully,” but described the dynamic of Christi vs. Abby as “car crash television” – and then he asked why they put up with it? Christi never really directly answers the question, but she did explain a little of the backstory.
Chloe started dancing as a little girl but Abby wasn’t always her teacher, they only joined ALDC much later and remained when they were cast for the show. By the time the show began they had forged relationships with the other moms and dancers at the studio.
“I think for me, at the beginning, it was always about Chloe. She was an only child for eight years and really the other girls in the studio were her sisters,” describes Christi. “I mean, she grew up in that world with those girls. And we didn’t see Abby as much as when the show started filming. We only saw her about 45 minutes a week.”
Once the show increased in popularity Abby’s negative behaviors, as well as the girls exposure to her, increased exponentially. “As things got progressively worse, I think you can see I definitely changed as the series went on. At the end, I just said its time to be done,” Christi explained. “I think that we were just sort of watching and seeing what was best for Chloe and when it was time we knew it, and we moved on.”
With several accusations (including in interviews given by Abby and Maddie) that the conflicts on the show are fabricated or producer manipulated, Christi disagrees. She insists the drama between Abby and herself was always authentic. “It’s pretty real – I would reckon to guess Abby really doesn’t like me,” she laughed.
However both Chloe and Christi insist the show wasn’t all bad. “I think its inspired a lot of kids to go dance,” Christi says of the success of Dance Moms. Chloe even says she learned a lot from Abby, even if she didn’t like her methods. “I think I learned a lot from her. Maybe she didn’t tell me the best ways sometimes, but I did learn lot,” she admits.
Chloe continues to dance and has since moved to a different Pittsburgh-based studio.
You can watch Christi and Chloe’s interview below.
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[Photo Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com]
