Was Dance Moms Scripted? Here’s What The Stars Have Said

Speaking to USA Today in 2015, the “Chandelier” dancer said, “The moms have to fake a fight sometimes. Afterward they just start talking and laugh about it.” Note the “sometimes,” though, which seems to imply that a few of the spats were real. Payton Ackerman confirmed Ziegler’s statements on her own YouTube channel, stating, “Reality television isn’t scripted, but it’s not reality, things are set up.” Although she did insist a script was never handed out.

However, some drama didn’t have to be instigated — the intensity surrounding competitions. Zeigler noted that even though she considers many of the girls her good friends, she said the dramatic competition scenes were “Really real,” continuing, “We do have a really crazy competition life.” As chaotic as it may be, Zeigler did recall a time when it was dramatized. Coming forward on the High Low with EmRata podcast, “There were male producers saying ‘This is what you have to say.’” Reportedly, they were coaching her to act like a brat, telling her, “Say you’re the best, say you’re better than everyone else,” said Ziegler.

Similarly, Ashlee Allen, the dance mom everyone loved to hate, said on her daughter Brynn Rumfallo’s podcast, “I was hired to come in and shake things up,” divulging that in the confession interviews, “they would literally feed you lines,” which could then be inserted later to elevate the drama and encourage feuding.