But according to dance student Nia Sioux, the heavy-handed teaching style that we saw on TV was nothing compared to what went on behind-the-scenes.
"Whenever I meet a fan they always ask me, 'Is Abby really that mean?' And usually what I say is, what you see is what you get but also they don’t even show everything that happens on the show," she told J-14.
"So, I mean, other people might say differently but from my point of view, it’s much worse off camera. Nothing changes. That’s just her personality."
WOAH, that's intense!
Despite what she went through on the show, the dancer admits that being raised on the Dance Moms set "benefitted" her in some ways.
"Growing up on such an intense set has really benefitted me, but has also been really hard on my life as well just because physically and emotionally it’s hard and a lot of stress goes into it," she said.
"Because we’re learning our dances in 2 to 3 days, sometimes you lose that passion for dancing because you’re working so much and trying to remember choreography and so much is going on outside. You just need to sit down and think about it and be like, 'Oh my gosh I’m doing what I love, you’re okay.' But, it can get really intense. It’s definitely taught me how to have a thick skin."
Still, we have a feeling that Abby will be pretty darn livid at Nia's claims.
Good thing she's behind bars then, right?
If you or someone you know needs help, you can speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day at headspace.org.au or Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800.
