‘Dance Moms’ Season 8 Rumors: ‘DWTS’ Pro Cheryl Burke To Replace Abby Lee Miller

Dance Moms Season 8 will continue, despite Abby Lee Miller’s decision to leave Lifetime’s reality show. Given the situation the dancing coach is in, there have been a lot of rumors that the show is going to come to an end. On Monday, Miller announced she is going to quit and this led to more cancellation rumors, but this time, there is some positive news for fans of the show; Dancing with the Stars coach Cheryl Burke will take over.

Dance Moms Season 8 has been questionable from the start, given the possibility that Abby Lee Miller will be imprisoned. Three months ago, Miller pleaded guilty to fraud charges and she could be facing up to 10 years of jail time. While this is public knowledge, followers of Dance Moms did not expect the training coach—who has been with the show for about six years—to leave in the middle of a season.

An Entertainment Tonight exclusive confirmed Cheryl Burke will serve as the dancing coach for the next episodes. With her experience as a professional dancer in Dancing with the Stars for 19 seasons, Burke has the qualifications to serve as the new dance instructor. Although the new DWTS season already started, she is not going to compete this time around so she can take over Dance Moms right away.

The reality show will have four more episodes to complete the current season. Despite additional episode orders, reports suggest Abby Lee Miller did not hold up her part of the bargain and the network had to call in Laurieann Gibson to take over. Miller eventually returned after three weeks, and one of her demands included removing Gibson from the set and banning the word “jail.” The publication’s source also noted that filming will resume on Wednesday, March 29.

“It’s a go with or without Abby. It’s been up in the air because the network said it’s either all of the cast or they weren’t doing any [more episodes].”

In an emotional post on Instagram, Abby Lee Miller made it known she is going to quit Dance Moms since she feels disrespected. Credited for training young talents, including Maddie Ziegler, Miller had a huge contribution to the show’s popularity given her no-nonsense training. Recently, however, there were reports that Miller’s decision may not be “smart” ones.

After Miller’s decision to leave the reality show, Ashlee Allen also announced she and her daughter, Brynn Rumfallo, are leaving Dance Moms as well. When Cameron Bridges, Kalani Hilliker, Nia Sioux, and Kendall Vertes left the studio to compete at the nationals under the junior elite competition with 8 Count Dance Academy and a former ALDC member Chloe Lukasiak at nationals, Allen took Miller’s side. When Miller went missing in action for three weeks, Gibson and Meagan Nugent took over. When the dance coach returned, she had numerous demands and this led to a huge feud in Dance Moms.

Abby Lee Miller may have aired her thoughts in public, but some people, including Cathy Nesbitt-Stein, believe this is just a bargaining chip. The Candy Apples Dance Center’s owner thinks Miller will not be leaving Dance Moms for good but she is trying to work her way to a better offer. In a statement to Radar, she added that Miller is a “huge spoiled brat.”

Abby Lee Miller will know her sentence on May 8 and by then, she could make the decision if she is going back to Dance Moms, provided Lifetime still wants her in their reality show.

[Featured Image by Tasia Wells/Getty Images]