Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller is opening up about her battle with cancer.
The Lifetime reality TV star and head of the Abby Lee Dance Company spoke to Us Weekly at JoJo Siwa’s Sweet 16 Birthday Celebration on Tuesday, April 9, revealing that nearly one-year after her cancer diagnosis, she still faces a number of struggles.
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“I’m OK. I’m good,” she told the outlet. “Good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours.”
Miller, a choreographer, had been diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, in April of 2018 after doctors discovered the cancer when she underwent emergency back surgery for what they initially believed was just an infection. The diagnosis came just days after she was released from prison on 366-day sentence for bankruptcy fraud in 2018, and it didn’t come as that big of a surprise to the star.
“I thought I would get cancer eventually. My mom and dad both passed away from cancer,” she said. “But not now or not this young and not when I was, like, ready to set the world on fire, and then it was just another thing. So I feel like I went to prison twice: once for the government and once at [Cedars-Sinai Medical Center].”
Despite her ongoing battle, Miller hasn’t let cancer slow her down. Although initially believed to be done with the world of reality TV, and dance for that matter, it was revealed in December that she would return for the upcoming season of Dance Moms, though filming hasn’t always been easy.
“I’ve been shooting in Pittsburgh for the last 10 weeks, and it’s very cold. So, like, your joints get stiff,” she explained. “You know, people say, ‘Oh, the weather, the weather.’ I’d be like, ‘What are you talking about? Makes no sense.’ But now it does It’s hard to be freezing cold all the time.”
Although still recovering, Miller hasn’t shied away from her dancing roots, and likes to incorporate her love of music and dance into her therapy routines, which she documents for fans on social media. In a post shared in February, the Dance Moms star revealed that not only was she re-learning how to walk, but also how to dance.
“Back to dancing, one step at a time. Port de bras,” she captioned a video showing herself standing up from her wheelchair and giving the camera her best classical ballet-styled arm movements.
Dance Moms returns to Lifetime for Season 8 on June 4 at 8 p.m. ET.
