‘Dancing With the Stars: Juniors’ Star Mackenzie Ziegler Doesn’t Keep up With Abby Lee Miller

Mackenzie Ziegler may have gotten her start on Dance Moms, but the Dancing With the Stars: Juniors star hasn’t kept in touch with dance coach Abby Lee Miller, she revealed to Us Weekly after the cast of the ABC dance competition was announced Tuesday.

The 14-year-old, when asked if she was in touch with Miller amid her battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, replied, “Not really — but I wish her the best and she’s awesome.”

The Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn star’s response, the publication noted, was similar to that of her older sister Maddie’s, who told Us Weekly in June, “We don’t keep in contact, but I wish her the best.”

Miller has been going through a tough time recently, having been released from prison in March after serving eight months for bankruptcy fraud. Following her release, she underwent emergency spinal surgery, which revealed to doctors that she had the lymphatic system cancer, which had spread. She has undergone a number of treatments since then, and is currently using a wheelchair after another recent spinal surgery.

In August, two of Miller’s former Dance Moms students, Elliana Walmsley and Maesi Caes, visited her in the hospital, calling her a “hero.”

Mackenzie will definitely be using the skills she garnered from the Lifetime series during this upcoming season of the Dancing With the Stars spinoff, which premieres Sunday, Oct. 7 on ABC.

She’ll be competing against Black-ish actor Miles Browns, Avengers actress Ariana Greenblatt, WE Tv star Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, Scripps National Spelling Bee competitor Akash Vukoti, pro skater Sky Brown, Stevie Wonder’s son Mandla Morris, NBA legend Scottie Pippen’s daughter Sophia Pippen, General Hospital actor Hudson West, Bristol Palin’s son Tripp Palin, Master Chef Junior winner Addison Osta Smith, and Raven’s Home actor Jason Maybaum for the first every juniors Mirrorball Trophy.

Judging the dancers will be Olympic figure skater and Dancing With the Stars: Athletes champ Adam Rippon, pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, and La La Land choreographer Mandy Moore. Emceeing the season will be Dancing With the Stars season 26 winner Jordan Fisher and second runner-up Frankie Muniz.

Fellow competitor Honey Boo Boo told PEOPLE Wednesday that Ziegler’s presence on the show was a little intimidating as someone who had only pageant-level experiences of dance.

“I did hit a breaking point at one time,” she said. “Mackenzie Ziegler is on the show and I was like, ‘I’m never going to be better than her.’ But I kind of got past it because you don’t have to be the best dancer to win. It’s not just about being the best dancer. It’s about having fun, too.”

“And everyone around me was so supportive,” she added. “Some days I would get super nervous and frustrated, but Artem and Tristan were supportive and told me I was going to be great. If you’re questioning your abilities — I mean, I thought dancing was going to be the hardest thing ever to learn and to do, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought once we got the hang of it. If you’re going to do something, don’t be afraid to do it and just do it!”

Dancing With the Stars: Juniors premieres on ABC Sunday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET.

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