Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller claims her former protégés were paid a whopping $50,000 EACH to appear on Lifetime reunion show – as she reveals she had NO idea she was going to be featured: ‘I feel used’

Abby Lee Miller has claimed her former dance students were paid $50,000 each to take part in the upcoming Dance Moms reunion special, but she hasn’t received a cent from bosses who she claims didn’t inform her she would be playing a major role .

This week, Lifetime released a trailer for the reunion, starring original cast members Brooke Hyland, 26, Paige Hyland and Kalani Hilliker, both 23, Chloe Lukasiak, 22, Kendall Vertes, 21, and Jojo Siwa, 20.

Abby, 58, claims she was not asked to take part in the two-hour special, which is released on May 1, and has accused bosses of using old footage to ‘make me look as bad as possible’.

“I’ve seen the trailer and all I can say is that producers clearly can’t come up with anything new,” Abby Lee told DailyMail.com exclusively.

“They’re still using the same old images, still using the same old conflicts and still trying to make me look as bad as possible. They still use me.

“Those beautiful girls at this reunion are girls I helped raise. The girls bursting into tears on the trailer are girls who wouldn’t have become who they are without me. I helped raise them.”

She continued, “They are now successful, confident and pretty damn rich. They were each paid $50,000 to host this reunion. I wasn’t asked for it and I didn’t pay anything. Save your tears for the pillow.’

The reunion takes place four years after the grand finale in 2019 and thirteen years after it first premiered in 2011.

Jojo, Brooke, Paige, Chloe, Kendall and Kalani’s moms Jessalynn Siwa, Kira Girard, Christi Lukasiak, Jill Vertes and Kelly Hyland are also in attendance.

“Our girls are officially all grown up… the #DanceMomsReunion doesn’t premiere until May 1st on @LifetimeTV,” Lifetime announced on Instagram on Wednesday, along with a teaser trailer.

Fans were quick to point out that studio owner Abby Lee and Abby Lee’s “favorite” dancer Maddie Ziegler did not participate.

Dance Moms followed an elite youth dance troupe at the Abby Lee Dance Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and their over-the-top moms as they compete across the United States.

In the preview, Paige and Brooke — who both joined the show in its first season — discuss the “fight” between their mother Kelly and Abby Lee that led to their abrupt exit during season four.

“I feel like I ruined your life and your dancing career,” Kelly confesses to Brooke and Paige – who were 13 and 10 years old respectively when they first appeared on the show.

Brooke breaks down in tears as Kalani, who was 13 when she joined in season four, admitted that she felt like she “caused” the whole outburst.

Kelly called Abby Lee a “bully” after she claimed to have overheard the instructor talking about replacing Brooke in a group dance with Kalani backstage during a dance competition.

She felt like Abby Lee was trying to “replace” Brooke and Paige with Kalani, which Abby Lee said wasn’t true.

The situation quickly escalated when Abby Lee got in Kelly’s face and Kelly punched Abby Lee. Kelly and the girls did not return to the show and Abby Lee filed charges against Kelly, which was later dropped.

Kelly attempted to sue both Abby Lee and Collins Ave Entertainment for negligence and breach of contract, but the lawsuit was ultimately dropped and settled out of court.

Abby spoke to get promoted Dancers against cancer – A non-profit organization with a mission to provide financial and inspirational support to dance teachers, choreographers, dancers and their families affected by cancer.

Although Abby was familiar with the organization, she did not become involved until she was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma – a rare and aggressive form of cancer – in 2019.

‘I was aware of it. I knew about it. It actually just started in my world. And the next thing I know, I have cancer and was in the hospital. I was in the California Rehabilitation Institute,” she told DailyMail.com.

“And unbeknownst to me on walks, JoJo and a very dear friend of mine, Michelle Rogers – a cancer survivor herself.

“They were visiting me together on behalf of Dancers Against Cancer and they presented me with a check for $10,000,” she said.

Thancers Against Cancer is widely supported by people with a passion for dance, including former Dance Moms stars Jojo and Maddie.

Other celebrities who have shown their support include Julianne and Derek Hough, Jenna Dewan, Vanessa Hudgens, Olivia Newton John, Christina Applegate and Allison Holker Boss.

Every year the organization organizes the annual Industry Dance Awards & Cancer Benefit Show.

Abby, who previously appeared in the spinoffs Dance Moms: Abby’s Studio Rescue and Dance Moms: Miami, launched her latest reality show, Mad House, in September.

It features professional dancers competing for the opportunity to learn and live in Abby’s Mad House to advance their careers.

She also revealed that she was recently in New York City filming an episode for the return of Dance Moms, which will be rebranded under a different name.

“I’m filming season nine,” she said. ‘The show I am photographing is the original concept I participated in. It’s not called Dance Moms, so some people are involved: hair, makeup, prop design, that kind of thing. They are involved.

“It gives a lot of kids a chance to be on TV and a lot of kids to be involved. There is so much talent in the world. The kids dancing today are incredible.”

In January, Abby sold her Pittsburgh dance studio, made famous on Dance Moms, off-market for $300,000.

“Before there were a lot of kids with dreams… there was a 22 year old with the dream of building my own state-of-the-art facility with the best sprung floors money could buy,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

In 2017, Abby was indicted on twenty counts of fraud and sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

She was also ordered to pay fines of $40,000 and $120,000.