‘Dance Moms’ Star Nia Sioux Claims Abby Lee Miller Made Racist Comments in Memoir

‘Dance Moms’ star Nia Sioux has opened up about her experience on the hit Lifetime series, alleging that her former dance instructor, Abby Lee Miller, made racist remarks and repeatedly criticized her body.

Sioux, now 24, starred on the show for seven seasons from 2011 to 2017, starting at age nine alongside her mother, Holly Frazier.

In her new memoir, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life, Sioux recalls several troubling incidents. During season two, she says Miller criticized her braided hairstyle on camera, telling her, “It’s like a log coming out of the side of her head.”

Sioux also describes a private exchange that never aired, in which Miller allegedly asked, “Don’t you just wish you had white-girl hair?” Sioux replied no, and Miller reportedly pressed her further, suggesting it would have been easier if she were white. “It didn’t matter what she said — I knew I didn’t want to be white,” Sioux writes.

Body shaming was also a recurring issue, according to Sioux. She says Miller criticized her feet, claiming Black dancers were naturally prone to flat feet, and threatened punishment for perceived flaws.

“If you don’t point that foot,” Miller reportedly said, “I’m gonna come out there and break it.” Comments extended to her thighs, butt, and muscular legs, often implying laziness or a lack of strength. Sioux notes, “This was just one of many comments Abby made to create an illusion that I was lazy or just not strong as a dancer. Viewers and some of my castmates ate that up without question.”

Sioux also highlights troubling content in some of her early solos before the show even began filming. She describes one routine called “Nattie of the Jungle,” about a child raised by monkeys, and another called “Satan’s Li’l Lamb.” Her mother confronted Miller about these routines, but Sioux says she often had to stay quiet as a child because she was excited to perform and unaware of the racial undertones.

Sioux’s memoir paints a picture of a challenging and sometimes harmful environment behind the cameras, shedding light on the pressures young dancers faced while under Miller’s direction.

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