Abby Lee Miller Under Fire for Saying She’s Attracted to ‘High School Football Players’

Abby Lee Miller has retracted recent comments that seemed to indicate that she is attracted to high school football players. Miller’s statement came toward the end of a podcast appearance with Sofia Franklyn’s Sofia with an F podcast, which was where Miller, 57, brought up the 1983 sports drama All the Right Moves, which stars Tom Cruise, who was 21 years old when the film was released, as the star senior of a high school football team. “Oh, that’s my downfall. I like the high school football players,” Miller admitted at the time. “I still like them.”

After this, Franklyn, 31, replied that since she’s an adult now, adult high school football coaches are more interesting to her. Miller continued hammering home the point, stating, “Not one that used to be in high school but one that is.” As a result of her remarks, Miller has received some significant backlash, with critics accusing her of sexually exploiting minors, an allegation that is especially troubling for Miller because of her work with children on Dance Moms and Mad House, her upcoming reality show.

In an Instagram post on Monday, Miller sought to “set the record straight.” “I do like those hot, athletic, muscular types of guys. The jocks. I always have, and I always will,” Miller stated. “And they must be able to go out to a club, gamble in Vegas, rent an ADA-compliant, handicap-accessible van, and they should also have a business, a bank account, success, and passion.”

She continued, “Now, if you saw the movie All the Right Moves, starring Tom Cruise playing a high school football star, then you will know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, go watch it, and then you’ll know.” At the end of her video, Miller shared, “This November is my high school class reunion… and I hope that the heartthrob is there. But if he’s not, I heard Tom Brady’s available.”

The renowned Abby Lee Dance Company that Miller established was featured on Lifetime’s Dance Moms series, which featured some of her more noteworthy students in the field, such as Maddie Ziegler, Kenzie Ziegler, JoJo Siwa, Chloe Lukasiak, and Nia Sioux. She has been single for a number of years, telling Entertainment Tonight that her “standards are too high.” 

“I have really high standards and in my mind,” she noted in 2017, adding that she feels much younger than she is. “I’m like 22, 23, 24 … that’s like the age.” Nevertheless, Miller expressed her desire to find love in the future, saying, “I make decisions all day, so it’s nice for a woman like me to go to dinner and have the man take the menu and say, ‘Let me order. Other women would be offended by that but I’m like, ‘Good. Because I can’t make one more decision today.’ I want someone to rub my feet without being asked.”