We Now Know Why Maddie Was Abby Lee Miller's Favorite Student

Dance Moms, starring Abby Lee Miller and her favorite student Maddie Ziegler, premiered back in 2011, and one of the most controversial aspects of the show was how blatantly Miller appeared to favor the dancer. But, to be fair, there were plenty of reasons why Maddie Ziegler was the favorite. The moms on the show had a hard time dealing with the obvious favoritism, and it wasn't long before the fans caught on, as well as the dancers themselves. But it wasn't really that hard to understand part of the reason why Miller gave Ziegler so much extra attention. As she mentioned on the show, Miller had known Ziegler and her family for a while before the dancer joined the Abby Lee Dance Company, long before the show started airing. In fact, in a Q&A session with Lifetime, Miller explained that she had gone to high school with Ziegler's father and that Ziegler had been dancing at her studio since she was just 4 years old. She said, "When it was time to put both of his daughters into dance class, he brought them to me." Keep watching to learn Why Maddie Was Abby Lee Miller's Favorite Student! #DanceMoms #AbbyLeeMiller In with Abby | 0:19 Maddie's mom | 1:06 Fast learner | 1:51 Extremely talented | 2:26 Amazing work ethic | 3:25 Loads of charisma | 4:20 Bettering herself | 5:00 Abby's bad side | 5:54 Facial expressions | 7:00 Star quality | 7:52 Sia videos | 8:41 Abby wants credit | 9:28 No contact | 10:18