Dance Moms has been officially cancelled, following Abby Lee Miller‘s cancer diagnosis.
The long-running reality series was reportedly set to return alongside the mini team with casting under way to “cover up for the older girls,” but those plans have since been abandoned.
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According to Radar Online, Miller had agreed to return to the Lifetime series under the condition that Junior Elite Competition members Nia Sioux, Kendall Vertes, Kalani Hilliker, Cameron Bridges and Chloe Lukasiak would not be part of the series.
“Then when she was released [from prison], all of this happened,” a source told Radar of her Lymphoma diagnosis. “The show was put on hold temporarily and now has been canceled completely. Dance Moms will never create another episode. The network feels as though it would be toxic to bring it back to life in another way with someone else.”
The site reports the network also had plans to create a series around Miller’s recovery, but the idea was eventually also let go.
“They were trying to do an Abby’s hospital recovery show,” the insider said. “A comeback, a different angle to the franchise. But she just can’t with the treatment and the inevitable.”
Miller has been undergoing chemotherapy to battle the disease, but sources say the treatment is not as effective as doctors had hoped.
“They are not sure she going to recover from or make it at this point,” an insider previously told Radar. “It is so bad. They are waiting for tests results to come back and then they would know more.”
The source added that “she can’t stop crying,” as the pain is so much deeper than physical at this point.”
Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, on April 18, less than a month after she was released from FCI Victorville and sent to a halfway house for the final two months of her 1-year prison sentence.
The head of Reign Dance Productions had been suffering from chronic back pain prior to the diagnosis and had been rushed into emergency back surgery on April 17 to alleviate what her doctor, Dr. Hooman Melamed, thought was an infection in her spine. After doing tests, however, it was revealed that she was suffering from Burkitt Lymphoma.
Melamed later detailed Miller’s likely course of treatment, stating that, “Depending on the tumor type, depending on the sensitivity of the tumor – it just depends the type but I feel more than yes, she will undergo chemotherapy or radiation.”
Since the diagnosis, Miller has reportedly “been getting her business affairs in order,” which includes writing a will and planning her own funeral, according to sources.
“Abby Lee’s deciding who gets what in her will,” a source said of the former Dance Moms cast member. “She made a few friends in prison and she’d like to reward them. It’s a very sad, scary time for Abby Lee. She’s never felt so alone!”
“Abby Lee’s trying to stay strong but she can’t get through the day without crying,” the insider added. “She doesn’t seem to think there’s much hope.”
She is also reportedly planning to file a lawsuit against FCI Victorville for denying her medical treatment.
