“There was a lot of infantilizing of Kendall,” says James Mahan, former “Dance Moms” producer and the rare genuine friend that Kelly and Christi maintain from their days on the show. He returns to share more behind-the-scenes perspectives and brand new stories. Some of his observations a casual fan could make, like noticing that Jill only ever refers to her daughter as “little.” On the other hand, he explains the complicated politics behind staging competitions on reality TV. Christi shares the conspiracy theory that diehard, deep-diving fans of the show have developed as to why Maddie famously forgot her steps.

They all laugh at the memory of Abby insisting that everyone awkwardly shoehorn the name of the studio into all on-camera conversations  and that they wear nothing but her merch while filming. They admire the clever way Cathy always managed to get around this. 

The girls start this “Dance Moms” episode by performing for the judges at the Joffrey, and end up at the Starbound Dance Competition in Paramus. 

Quotes

• “I just feel like every time I did an interview with Jill, she’d say, “Kendall’s a beautiful little dancer. It was always ‘little.’ You’d hear that word in every interview. There was a lot of infantilizing of Kendall that happened.” (16:18-16:40 | James, Christy and Kelly)
• “Abby would not say ‘Candy Apples’ on camera because she didn't want to promote Cathy’s business. But we always had to say ALDC. I like that Kathy found a way around saying ‘Abby Lee Dance Company.’ So Cathy and Abby both were quite funny about not giving the other any free publicity.” (26:40-27:03 ) | Christi and James)
• “Am I allowed to chew gum in Jersey? Because I got yelled at once for chewing gum in New York. She yelled at me that it wasn't Jersey.” (33:55-34:01 | Christi)
• “It was hilarious when Jill said, ‘Kendall looks like an angel. A little angel.’  Jill, she's actually dressed as an angel. So, yeah she did.. So did all the other kids in the dance.” (41:54-42:18 | Christi)

Links

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