When Paige and Brooke Hyland left dancing momsfollowed the most dramatic scene in the show’s history.
Even a decade later, the explosive fight between dance teacher Abby Lee Miller and sister Hyland’s mother is still talked about. A generation of fans even represent this on TikTok.
While the girls argue about the Dance Moms: The Reunion In particular, there is still a lot of trauma to be faced in relation to what happened.
So let’s revisit what happened and why Paige and Brooke Hyland left dancing moms when they were children.
Why Paige and Brooke Hyland left ‘Dance Moms’ in 2014
Sisters Brooke and Paige Hyland were always well-behaved children while they were dancing momsbut they both had difficulty receiving praise from their hard-to-please teacher.
Abby Lee Miller spent much of the first four seasons playing favorites (Image: Getty Images)Maddie Ziegler) and pitting the girls against each other (poor Chloe!).
In the now-infamous Season 4 episode, the sisters’ mother, Kelly Hyland, got into a heated argument with Abby Lee when, out of nowhere, a new girl is brought into the company on competition day. Kelly felt that Abby purposely brought in surprise newcomer Kalani Hilliker as an ambush and to replace her two sons.
Abby denied it, but Kelly wasn’t sidetracked. Unfortunately, things got physical when Abby approached Kelly and pointed her finger in her face. Then, Abby made a gesture as if she was going to bite Kelly, who in turn grabbed her hair and pushed her.
Although the situation was later defused by the other mothers, Brooke and Paige left ALDC after this.
And in fact, they never danced again.
The Aftermath: Kelly Hyland’s Arrest and Sister’s Dancing Career
Kelly was arrested for assault and harassment stemming from the fight with Abby. However, the accusations turned out to be knocked down. Kelly agreed to go to counseling and stay away from Abby for six months.
Six months quickly turned into an eternity when the girls stopped dancing with Abby. But the legal battles were just beginning.
Kelly and her daughters filed a lawsuit against Abby and the show’s producer in November 2014, months after the explosive fight.
The family alleged that the girls suffered “defamation” and “emotional distress” because of the program, according to THR. They claimed Abby had a “domineering and often intimidating and insulting leadership style” and wanted $5 million in damages. However, the judge concluded the case, stating that there was not enough “evidence”.
So, the girls lost the battle and the war. After that, neither sister pursued a dancing career.
But don’t feel bad for them. On the contrary, the girls are thriving!
Brooke and Paige Hyland Return for ‘Dance Moms’ Reunion: ‘It Was Really Hard’
After a decade away from the show, Brooke and Paige reunited with most of the cast of dancing moms for a reunion special on Lifetime.
It was the first time the sisters reunited with other OG girls like Chloe and Kendall. It was also the first time they faced his “replacement” Kalani in ten years.
Before the show, the sisters addressed concerns that their mother blamed herself for the end of her daughters’ time in the spotlight.
“I think we both wanted to leave the show, so I think we felt bad that our mom was carrying that guilt,” Paige told ET.
“It’s actually like we want to thank her,” Brooke added.
“We see her as an amazing mother who was struggling to do what we wanted,” Paige continues.
However, both admit that the trauma of that fight that ended their time at ALDC is still something they deal with today – especially because the world won’t let them forget it.
“It’s hard. It became a TikTok trend,” Brooke shared. “People are using that sound of the fight. We went through. I reenacted that. I kind of just laughed about it. But the reunion was the first time we sat there and we thought, ‘Wow, that happened! And it was my mom and my dance teacher who were very important people in my life.