‘Dancing With the Stars’ Celeb Speaks out After Her Show Gets Canceled: Chandler Kinney Reacts to ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Axing

One Dancing With the Stars contestant is getting real about her show getting canceled. Chandler Kinney, who is becoming a fan-favorite on the reality competition series, opened up to TheWrap about the Pretty Little Liars reboot’s cancellation. The series, which dropped its second season finale in June, was canceled by Max in September, despite a set up to a potential third season. Kinney had starred on the series as one of the new main Liars, aspiring filmmaker and horror film fanatic Tabby.

“This is really not even a hot take. Max doesn’t have as many YA shows or shows with a target demographic of young adults,” Kinney shared. “We as a cast felt that we were always navigating that and trying to find our fit over the last couple years.” Also starring Bailee Madison, Zaria, Malia Pyles, and Maia Reficco, Pretty Little Liars was set in the same universe as its predecessors but told a whole new mystery in a new town with a new “A.” The series premiered on HBO Max in July 2022, titled Original Sin, and renewed for Season 2 that September. Summer School premiered in May, releasing just eight episodes as opposed to Season 1’s 10 episodes.

When it was announced that Pretty Little Liars was canceled, Kinney took to Instagram to share a lengthy message, accompanied by a series of photos from set. She expressed how much the show changed her life and thanked everyone part of the series and those who watched. In regards to the cancellation, she said the show “didn’t deserve this fate…this decision doesn’t reflect our ratings and reception…so while we’ve known this news for a while (and have wanted so badly to share), we’re all still a bit shocked. We’ve fallen victim to the current nature of the circumstances of the industry as it stands today…& that’s just unlucky.”

Looking back at the post, the Zombies star said, “It’s so funny. When I wrote that – I have gotten a lot of comments about it – and I didn’t even think twice about it, because I think it’s just factual. If you look at the numbers and the statistics, the decision is a bit confusing. That’s just frustrating, but I really think it’s like basic math. But I understand what happened. In a post double strike industry where there’s less funds and people are clinging on to their original projects that they’ve had long term, I can see how that all shook out.”

Despite PLL’s premature cancellation, Chandler Kinney is staying pretty busy. The actress made it through to another week on Dancing With the Stars Season 33 with partner Brandon Armstrong, topping the leaderboard the first three nights. She is also returning to the beloved Zombies musical franchise on Disney Channel for the new movie Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. She probably has other projects in the works as well, and while it’s still sad that Pretty Little Liars got axed and she is not the only one frustrated, fans can always rewatch the first two seasons on Max.