Where Is Abby Lee Miller Now? All About Her Life After ‘Dance Moms’

Abby Lee Miller has experienced her fair share of ups and downs since Dance Moms went off the air.

The Lifetime reality series — which ran for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019 — gave viewers an inside look at the world of competitive youth dance. It centered on Miller’s often controversial coaching style and the drama between her and the dancers’ moms.

The show became a pop culture phenomenon and helped launch the careers of young stars like Maddie Ziegler, JoJo Siwa and Chloe Lukasiak.

However, since the show ended, she’s faced several personal challenges, including a prison sentence for bankruptcy fraud and a cancer diagnosis that left her in a wheelchair.

So, where is Abby Lee Miller now? Here’s everything to know about her life after Dance Moms.

Who is Abby Lee Miller?

Abby Lee Miller was born in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Maryen Lorrain Miller and George L. “Salty” Miller. She was raised in the dance world, as her mom was an instructor and owned a local studio, she told dancer Matt Steffanina in an October 2024 YouTube video.

Although she took classes at the studio, she knew from a young age that her true calling was teaching and choreographing.

At 21 years old, Miller’s parents gifted her their “life savings” to open up the Abby Lee Dance Company.

Years later, Miller reconnected with a former student, John Corella, at a dance competition. Impressed by her Junior Elite Competition Team, he developed what would become Dance Moms, she told Steffanina.

The series was eventually picked up by Lifetime, and the pilot premiered on July 11, 2011. It quickly became a hit, spawning several spinoffs, including Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, Dance Moms: Miami, Dance Moms: Abby’s Studio Rescue and Raising Asia.

Why did Abby Lee Miller go to prison?

In October 2015, the reality star was charged with bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets and false bankruptcy declarations for attempting to hide $755,000 of income in secret accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The charges stemmed from her 2010 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, in which she allegedly did not report earnings from Dance Moms, its spinoffs, merchandise and other projects.

She was also accused of dividing $120,000 in Australian currency into separate plastic bags and having friends carry them in their luggage during an August 2014 trip. The action was a violation of a law mandating that people report if they are bringing more than $10,000 of a foreign currency into the U.S.

In 2016, Miller pleaded guilty to  one count of concealing bankruptcy assets and one count of not reporting an international monetary transaction, per Deadline. She was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and began serving her sentence in July 2017. Eight months later, she was released for good behavior, according to Deadline.

In recent years, Miller has opened up about her time in prison. While appearing on Good Morning America in May 2019, she alleged that she was treated differently because of her celebrity status, claiming that the guards were “offensive” and “violent.”

She added that her time behind bars didn’t change her, saying, “I’ve always been a fighter … for every mistake I’ve made I’ve had to just come back tougher. Come back stronger. Come back better.”

Which health struggles has Abby Lee Miller faced?

Shortly after she was released from prison, Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in April 2018. The cancer was discovered after she underwent an emergency surgery for what was initially thought to be a spinal infection.

Complications from the nearly five-hour procedure left Miller temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. She then underwent 10 rounds of chemotherapy and spent months in rehabilitation, per Today.

In May 2019, Miller revealed that she was cancer-free and in remission. “The cancer is completely gone,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “I’m more than grateful. I’m thankful.”

“I pushed through because I feel like I have more to do,” she continued. “I want to be an executive producer. I have three other shows and a cartoon that I’ve created. I want to do what I really do — I create. I can make something magical and wonderful out of nothing. I do it every week.”

Though she has regained some mobility, Miller remains in a wheelchair.

“My goal is to walk again,” she wrote in an August 2019 essay for Women’s Health. “I know I’ll probably never walk around Disney World or the airport, but I’m hopeful I can walk for short distances and get some normalcy back in the future.”

Is Abby Lee Miller in touch with anyone from Dance Moms?

Since the show wrapped, several of the dancers and their moms have distanced themselves from Miller.

Ziegler, who left the show after season 6, opened up about her relationship with Miller during a June 2022 cover story for Cosmopolitan.

“She was distraught [when I left]. For the longest time, we felt so guilty,” she said of her former instructor.  “She trained me, she helped me, but also, I knew I would be okay without her and I was sick of being in a toxic environment.”

The West Side Story star continued, adding, “I was like, ‘This is not for me. I can’t do this.’ I haven’t spoken to her since. I feel at peace.”

Several other cast members, including Brooke and Paige Hyland, Kalani Hilliker and Kendall Vertes, shared similar sentiments during the 2024 special Dance Moms: The Reunion, which Miller was not a part of.

Miller is, however, close with Siwa, who joined the show in season 5 and has since built a career in entertainment. Ahead of the reunion, Siwa told PEOPLE that she has a “great relationship” with the instructor, adding, “I talk to her on a weekly basis. Great human in my life.”

In May 2025, the pair reunited during a live broadcast of Access Daily with Mario & Kit.

“She was a star,” Miller said, recalling her first impression of Siwa.

“I think the one thing that I would never ever lose for Abby, no matter what, is respect,” Siwa chimed in. “I think we could go years from now, you could do anything, but the respect that I have for you will be the same as when I was 9.”

Where is Abby Lee Miller now?

Though she sold her Pittsburgh studio in January 2023, Miller continues to teach through virtual masterclasses and frequently attends dance conventions across the globe. She also served as a judge at the 2025 Dance World Cup in Spain.

“Dance is my life. I still teach, I still choreograph, I still train students to become professional working dancers,” she said during a January 2025 appearance on The Dr. Phil Podcast. “It’s in my blood.”

Miller hasn’t shied away from the spotlight, either. In 2023, she appeared on season 1 of House of Villains and launched her podcast Leave It On The Dance Floor. She also stars in and executive produces a reality series on Brandon TV called Mad House, which follows young adult dancers all living under the same roof.