With ‘Dance Moms’ Season 8 Confirmed, Who Will Coach The Girls?

Dance Moms is the show that never dies. Every season, viewers and fans are prepared for the inevitable blow that this one will be the last. But it seems that every year, at the 11th hour, it is resurrected and given new life. Season 8 was no different, as the cast bawled and hugged backstage as they assumed Season 7B would be the end of their Dance Moms journey. But Bryan Stinson has confirmed that there will be a new season just as fans had lost hope.

The executive producer let viewers know the crew would, indeed, be back for another round with a simple tweet.

“That’s a wrap on season 7. 208 hours of Dance Moms programming. Season 7 was heaven. Season 8 will be gr8t #DanceMoms,” he wrote.

But now that the show is confirmed, who is going to take the lead and coach the girls for the new season?

Abby Lee Miller has been the fearless (and sometimes tactless) leader of the Dance Moms Junior Elite team, choreographing and training her charges with an iron fist.

Several of the girls who have left the show, including her pet student, Maddie Ziegler, confirmed that her teaching methods put undue stress on them. Maddie even wrote in her new tell-all The Maddie Diaries that she was often so nervous about her teacher’s reaction during Dance Moms that she would bite her nails to the quick, something many fans of the show have noticed.

The dance teacher left the show with a caustic Instagram post a few weeks ago, stating that she was tired of the treatment of the producers. She said Dance Moms was bad for her mental health, and she was sick of the male production crew pushing around the female cast. Abby Lee also stated that she felt like producers were also making suggestions on dances and choreography when they didn’t know what they were doing.

Fan favorite Chloe Lukasiak returned to Dance Moms for Season 7B but was placed on an opposing team to both amp up the drama and because she didn’t want to deal with Abby Lee Miller. Her former dance coach had made fun of her eye a few years ago, and it turned out to be a serious condition for which Lukasiak needed surgery.

But when Abby Lee abandoned her team, the girls joined their old teammate, Chloe, to form a new team under the direction of Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke. While the girls have gushed that they love dancing with Burke and the network president of Lifetime has given her high praises, it doesn’t appear she has signed on for a new season and is still undecided.

While many fans feel the show won’t be the same without Abby Lee Miller, she may be unavailable due to her legal troubles. The dance teacher is in hot water after pleading guilty to hiding nearly $800,000 in earnings from the federal government and will be sentenced for her crime earlier next month. While parole is certainly a possibility, she may face up to 30 months in jail, leaving her unable to follow through with commitments to Dance Moms.

Although she has quit, producers have stated she is welcome to come back to the show at any time.

Abby Lee Miller always told the girls of Dance Moms that everyone was replaceable, and she attempted to prove it time after time by replacing team members. However, Abby Lee Miller insists that in some instances, this was producer-driven.

So if Cheryl Burke doesn’t sign on for the new season and Abby Lee Miller is unavailable or unwilling to return, who will end up coaching the Dance Moms Junior Elite team, and will the show ever be the same?

[Featured Image by Michael Kovac/Stringer/Getty Images]