'Dance Moms' season 6 update: Leaked video confirms Maddie Ziegler's departure from the show
A newly leaked video shows that the Zieglers are set to leave Lifetime's "Dance Moms." This further confirms the spreading rumors that Maddie Ziegler, her sister Mackenzie, and their mother, Melissa Gisoni, are quitting the reality dance program, with them having done filming their last episode on Feb. 27.
The video was taken during Maddie's appearance at the New York Dance Experience in Riverside, California. In the footage, Melissa is the first to speak on stage.
"This is the first competition that they did on 'Dance Moms' ... and their last," she said.
She also gave a special shoutout to her daughters' dance coach Abby Lee Miller and Abby's choreographer-assistant Gianna Martello. "I just want to thank Abby for everything you've done for my kids through the years. And Gia, I adore you like a daughter."
"I just want to thank Abby, Gia and all of my other dance moms and all the girls," Maddie said.
Mackenzie, on the other hand, admitted, "It's just really hard to leave."
Rumors of Maddie's departure after the sixth season had first surfaced in December when US Weekly reported that she had become too old to continue with "Dance Moms" and had been planning on transitioning into acting in Hollywood.
Maddie herself seemed to confirmed this in an interview with Entertainment Tonight (ET) in September. "I definitely want to be moving more into acting," she told the online publication. "Still keeping up my dancing, but also [do] movies and scripted TV shows."
Besides starring in Sia's "Sister," Maddie also landed a role in director Colin Trevorrow's drama "The Book of Henry." Maddie had been absent from several episodes of "Dance Moms" season 6 episodes so she could film the movie in New York. She returned, though, in the show's fourth episode.
"Dance Moms" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on Lifetime.