Dance Moms ' Stars React to Maddie & Nia Skipping the Reunion

Originally appeared on E! Online

Sometimes it is best to save your tears for your pillow.

Such was the case for Maddie Ziegler, Kenzie Ziegler and Nia Sioux who passed on filming the recent Dance Moms reunion that saw their former costars cry "like, every segment," joked Kendall Vertes.

With fans wondering why the trio of OGs didn't join Kendall, JoJo Siwa, Kalani Hilliker, Chloé Lukasiak, Brooke Hyland and Paige Hyland for the taping last November, Nix delivered a death mic drop.

"The reason is quite simple," the UCLA senior explained in an April 30 TikTok. "I just didn't want to do it. Some people think it was because I had sorority stuff. Nope, I didn't. Some people think it's because I'm in school. I am in school, but it wouldn't have been an issue."

"I just didn't want to do it," she continued. "That's a good enough answer, and that's a good enough reason."

Dance Moms: The Reunion Premiere

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It was certainly good enough for her costars.

While JoJo suggested during the Lifetime series' May 1 reunion that "them not being here is kinda like, 'Let me erase my past, pretend it never happened, shove it down the drain,'" their fellow day ones understood why they might RSVP no to living on the dance floor one more time.

"There was so many mixed emotions going into it," Paige reflected to E! News in an exclusive interview. "I feel like for people from the original team, we went through so much. So it definitely took a little bit for me to process if I wanted to do it or not. So I understand why not everyone wanted to, because it's hard getting back into it and dealing with this stuff."

Chloé agreed that she, too, was hesitant about stepping back on stage to rehash her years spent desperately seeking acerbic teacher Abby Lee Miller's approval.

"I was like, I don't even know if I'm ready for this," she admitted. "And then, honestly, I really reflected and I thought it's a really good way to close that chapter of my life and give my appreciation, show my gratitude to it, reminisce. I mean, these are my closest friends. We're sisters. It's like an extended family. And I just wanted to have that moment all together."

Much like her recent graduation from Malibu's Pepperdine University, "It feels like a good closure."

And while Maddie's absence meant they weren't given the space to discuss all those times they were unfairly pitted against one another, "I think we're all on our own journeys," allowed Chloé, who has since launched her own dance competition series, Elevé. "And so whether we're all ready to come together and talk about what we went through or not, we're still kind of working through it. It's up to our own discretion. But the girls here were clearly ready to face some things."

And while, yes, there were a lot of tears they also, as Abby once infamously directed, decided they were all going to have fun.

"I think it was really fun for all of us to get back together," said Kalani. "And I feel like it made us even closer now than we were before." (See: The crew's still-healing matching tattoos.)

Though she acknowledged, "Of course, we would love to have everybody there," at the end of the day, "everybody can make their own choice. And we chose to be here and there's nothing wrong either way."

Because these days every last standout from the Abby Lee Dance Company is killing their own personal solo. Check out how each of the stars have risen to the top of the pyramid.

Maddie Ziegler

Kenzie Ziegler

Chloe Lukasiak

Nia Sioux

Brooke Hyland

Paige Hyland

Kendall Vertes

JoJo Siwa

Kalani Hilliker

Asia Monet Ray

Camryn Bridges

Brynn Rumfallo