![EXCLUSIVE: Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller doesn’t flinch as a gymnast SOMERSAULTS over her during an outing to an LA beach. The reality TV star, 55, bravely lay back in her wheelchair as the muscular shirtless performer ran towards her then vaulted above her. Miller, who shot to fame as the star of hit show Dance Moms, has been using a wheelchair after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from her spinal cord after reportedly being diagnosed with a form of cancer called Burkitt Lymphoma. Miller’s visit to the beach in Santa Monica, CA, saw her talking to a man and a woman dressed in workout gear before giving him a series of dance lessons. An onlooker said: “Abby was in great form and started giving the guy dance lessons. "She was teaching him to move and how and when to move his feet and it seemed he was struggling to get the hang of it. It was like she was back on the show Dance Moms and was shouting orders at him to ‘move to the side’ or ‘back right’. She appeared to be trying to teach him ballet just like she did to kids on the series. “It looked the guy had some gymnastic training and so afterwards they did a stunt where he ran at her and somersaulted directly above her.” Miller spent eight seasons on Dance Mom and previously taught Joelle Joanie “Jojo” Siwa. In 2017 she was sentenced to 366 days in prison for bankruptcy fraud. 31 Aug 2021 Pictured: Abbey Lee Miller. Photo credit: KAT/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA782922_021.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Abby-Lee-Miller-Spotted-In-Wheelchair-MEGA-1.jpg?fit=282%2C440)
![EXCLUSIVE: Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller doesn’t flinch as a gymnast SOMERSAULTS over her during an outing to an LA beach. The reality TV star, 55, bravely lay back in her wheelchair as the muscular shirtless performer ran towards her then vaulted above her. Miller, who shot to fame as the star of hit show Dance Moms, has been using a wheelchair after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from her spinal cord after reportedly being diagnosed with a form of cancer called Burkitt Lymphoma. Miller’s visit to the beach in Santa Monica, CA, saw her talking to a man and a woman dressed in workout gear before giving him a series of dance lessons. An onlooker said: “Abby was in great form and started giving the guy dance lessons. "She was teaching him to move and how and when to move his feet and it seemed he was struggling to get the hang of it. It was like she was back on the show Dance Moms and was shouting orders at him to ‘move to the side’ or ‘back right’. She appeared to be trying to teach him ballet just like she did to kids on the series. “It looked the guy had some gymnastic training and so afterwards they did a stunt where he ran at her and somersaulted directly above her.” Miller spent eight seasons on Dance Mom and previously taught Joelle Joanie “Jojo” Siwa. In 2017 she was sentenced to 366 days in prison for bankruptcy fraud. 31 Aug 2021 Pictured: Abbey Lee Miller . Photo credit: KAT/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA782922_032.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Abby-Lee-Miller-Spotted-In-Wheelchair-MEGA.jpg?fit=440%2C314)
“In an instant, your life changes completely,” a cancer-stricken Abby Lee Miller, 52, says at the start of the trailer for season eight of Dance Moms (or Dance Moms: Resurrection, per E! News.) She obviously wasn’t kidding, as the trailer reveals the extent of her painful struggle against Burkitt Lymphoma. “I was ready to go back to work and start my life over and now I can’t even walk,” she said from a hospital bed. Abby was diagnosed with the rare form of cancer in April 2018, and Dance Moms will capture her struggle, as we’ll see her start chemo, deal with losing her hair and continue to fight her way back from the bring.
Oh, and fight she will, as she doesn’t know how to quit. “I need to get back to teaching and I need to get back to screaming at children,” she says in the trailer. “I need to get back to my roots. I’m going to take these kids right back to Pittsburgh.” After donning a wig and applying her makeup, Abby Lee is ready to return to the Abby Lee Dance Company (ALDC). When she returns on a wheelchair, she is greeted with open arms by all her students!
“There are people that counted me out, thought I was finished, considered the ALDC dead. Well, I fought hard to be here, and you have to a fighter too. You have to fight to get those legs straight, you have to fight to get better feet, you have to fight to be a champion,” she tells her students, invoking the same (somewhat controversial) attitude and discipline that made Dance Moms a household phenomenon.
“I have my own personal goals and I have goals for the team. I need to be ready for that first competition. We need to make a statement on that stage that the ALDC is back and ‘watch out,’ “ she says at the end of the trailer. Abby hinted that she was returning to Dance Moms (until she outright announced in Dec. 2018 that she’ll be back for season 8.) Her decision to return to the show was reportedly against her doctor’s wishes, but maybe it was exactly what she needed? In January 2019, four months after finishing chemo, Abby posted a photo of herself with Bow Bow Siwa, and Abby looked great! While she was still in a wheelchair, her skin had a healthy glow and she had a huge smile.
Dance Moms: Resurrection is set for a June 2019 premiere on Lifetime.