- Just admit Abby just gave your kid a solo.
- There's no one else here!
Who's gonna get the empty chair?
Empty chair, do a solo!
- Hi everyone, I am Christi Lukasiak,
and this is Dance Moms: Epic Showdowns.
- The pressure is on.
- [Christi] You clearly said that JoJo deserves a solo.
- [Ashlee] You're so stupid!
- At the Abby Lee Dance Company,
getting a solo is everything.
- [Abby] You bomb, it's over.
- [Christi] Because it's the girls' chance to shine.
- When opportunity knocks, you have to be ready.
- [Christi] I don't think Abby cares that the girls won.
The only thing she cares about was Maddie's solo.
Relive the Dance Mom's showdowns that were so epic...
- She said that JoJo deserves a solo.
- [Jessalynn] JoJo will do the dance no one wants.
Who cares? - She wants it, you took it!
- [Christi] That the solo spotlight fizzled out.
- [Melissa] What's wrong?
- Oh, screw you, I'm done.
- [Abby] You're finished, you're out.
- [Christi] This is Dance Moms: Epic Showdowns,
Flyin' Solo.
- [Melissa] You said that Maddie was so upset, okay?
so kiss my ass! - She looked so upset.
[intense music]
- Abby loved playing games with us.
Did I love those games?
Uh, hell no, but I always had to defend my daughter.
Like the time Abby pitted Maddie and Chloe
against each other in dueling solos.
- [Melissa] Maddie's solo this week is tap
and she's gonna be so amazing,
because she's a phenomenal tap dancer.
- I have one more solo to give out.
That solo will go to Chloe.
- [Christi] Abby gave Maddie a tap solo,
which clearly, Maddie excels in tap.
She's had tap classes for years,
and she assigns Chloe hip-hop,
which we don't even have hip-hop classes at the studio.
She's so unfair.
The whole thing turned into, who was the sneakier dance mom?
And spoiler alert, it was Melissa.
You know what I think is really sad is that you,
point blank, said to all of us
that when the children were invited
that you were not going to send Maddie,
but then you screwed the group.
- [Kelly] Sneaky. [Melissa chuckles]
- [Christi] Well... - That's funny.
- Why is that funny?
- Because you know Christi sneaks all the time,
you've said it.
- [Christi] What do I sneak about?
- [Melissa] What do you mean? You talk to everybody.
- Gimme a break.
If you could sleep with Abby, you would, and you know it.
- Oh yeah, oh yeah.
- Well, that's how you tend to get ahead in life, Melissa.
- Oh yeah, I sleep with everybody.
- You do. Boss.
- I've never slept with my boss.
- Yes, you did, you married him.
- Yes, I married Greg after--
- Yeah, after you slept with him and had an affair
when he had a wife. - [Melissa] I did not.
- And you had a husband. - Guess what? I didn't
sleep with him and don't start with me again, Christi.
- [Christi] You did. - You know what?
- I know, storm out, we love it.
- [Melissa] Oh, I am storming out because
this is not being brought up. - [Christi] Sue me.
- [Melissa] Screw you, I did not sleep with my boss.
You know what, you wanna play those games?
- What's wrong?
- [Jill] She has to live with the decision she made.
- Like, I'm not gonna sit up here and make this easy on her.
She didn't make it easy on any of those six little girls.
- [Jill] No, but...
- [Christi] She knew she had that coming.
Chloe didn't win first place, but neither did Maddie
and that is what infuriated Abby,
but the group dance came in first.
- [Announcer] "Gone Too Soon" from the Abby Lee Dance Company.
[crowd cheering]
- [Christi] The group just won first place
and Abby can't even bother to look up from her phone
because she's so upset that Maddie got second place.
- [Holly] Oh, boy.
- Thank God that we won the group dance.
- I know.
- Oh, I don't think Abby cares that the girls won.
The only thing she cares about was Maddie's solo.
- [Holly] I feel kind of bad that the girls
probably won't get to enjoy their win.
- [Kelly] So all your kissing ass
and doing whatever has paid off,
and aren't you glad that you went to LA to make sure
that she will protect you?
- [Christi] But you don't see,
when you do things against the group,
that it hurts our kids.
- My kids come first to me,
and they always will come first to me.
- I can't say that I'm fed up with Melissa's
lying and fakeness, because I've always been fed up
with Melissa's lying and fakeness,
but I think all the other moms in the room
are finally fed up with it too.
[girls cheering]
- [Moms] Good job!
- [Christi] I know, high five!
High five, see, and Melissa thought you were upset.
- [Melissa] Uh, you said that Maddie was so upset, okay?
So kiss my ass. - She looked so upset.
Why are you saying this in front of your kid?
- Because guess what, you do it all the time!
You talk about my kid all the time.
You said, "Oh, Maddie's upset."
Every time Maddie doesn't win,
"Oh my God, Maddie's upset, Maddie's upset,"
so don't play the game.
- She was crying, thank you.
- Oh, whatever.
- [Christi] Okay. - Screw you!
I'm done, I'm so over it.
You know what? You're always against me.
Come on.
Why don't you tell that trashy girl to stop?
We're leaving.
Come on, girls.
- Bye Melissa, glad those days are over with.
- Holly, why can't you just admit,
Abby just gave your kid a solo?
- There's no one else here.
Who's gonna get it, the empty chair?
Empty chair, do a solo!
[intense music]
- Solos could either be a blessing or a curse,
especially when Abby was using them to play mind games,
like the time she gave last minute solos
to Holly's daughter, Nia,
and Jessalynn's daughter, JoJo,
while the rest of the team
was attending the Jump Convention in Pittsburgh.
- Where's everybody else, what's going on?
- They're still at Jump. - Are they coming?
- They're coming, but they're coming late.
Kendall, Kalani, Maddie and Mackenzie
are supposed to be at Starbound Competition.
However, they're still at the convention, Jump.
Abby thinks Jump is very important.
However, they have to be at this competition
because it's the last competition in Pittsburgh.
- Nia and JoJo are where they're supposed to be,
and the rest of the team is missing.
- [Holly] Where's everybody else, whats going on?
- They're still at Jump.
- Are they coming?
- They're coming, but they're coming late.
- At the last competition in Pittsburgh,
only JoJo and Nia arrived on time.
The rest of the team was held up at the Jump Convention,
and Jessalynn and Holly were not happy about it.
And of course, to make matters worse,
Cathy and her dance moms inserted themselves
right in the middle of the drama.
- [Cathy] Why would she register you guys for a competition
if she knew that they were gonna be at Jump?
- I knew nothing about this
until I just walked in right now.
We were told to come to this competition.
- [Jessalynn] Right.
- It's none of their business
and we should not open up our business,
including you, Holly, to them.
- Do not tell me what I need to do.
- Holly, it's none of their business
what we do, or you do with your child.
- Don't you dare think I'm gonna listen to you tell me
what I can and cannot say.
- Why are you entitled to your opinion and no one else is?
- 'Cause my opinion is right that I can--
- Okay, here we go!
Holly's opinion is always right.
- [Holly] The thing is, I'm not standing up
and letting this woman control me.
I don't need to.
Absolutely disgraceful, absolutely fake,
and you all are controlled by Abby.
- [Jill] Holly, I'm controlled by my child
and what makes her happy.
- You're controlled by her.
Controlled by her.
Ignorant fool.
- But the fighting didn't stop there.
When it came closer and closer to competition time
and the rest of the team still hadn't shown up,
that's when Abby really turned everything upside down.
- [Holly] You know what?
Because it's everyone out for themself,
we knew, pyramid, we were coming here,
and the commitment was to be at this competition.
- [Jessalynn] So if Jump goes till 2:30
and you can't get here 'til 3:30,
how the heck are they gonna do this?
- Okay, when opportunity knocks, you have to be ready.
That's part of your training at the Abby Lee Dance Company,
so this is your opportunity.
I thought all of our soloists were going to be here
and they're not.
You will be going in for Kalani.
You will be going in for Kendall.
Big shoes to fill.
- [Holly] Because of Abby's mistake,
now Nia and JoJo have to go against our biggest rival, Ava,
totally unprepared and unsupported by their teammates.
It's not fair.
- We didn't exclude her, Abby didn't exclude her.
- [Jessalynn] The only people Abby care about
are sitting right there.
- That's, I disagree.
She just gave your two kids solos.
- There's no one else on the team!
- Holly, why can't you just admit,
Abby just gave your kid a solo?
- There's no one else here.
Who's gonna get it, the empty chair?
Empty chair, do a solo!
My gosh, there's no one else left on the team today.
There's no one else she could give the solo to.
I don't know what you want from me, Jill.
- Well, let me tell you.
Be quiet for one minute and I'll tell you.
- Go ahead, Jill. - Are you done?
I would like for you to say,
"Abby gave my kid a solo today.
This is a good day for Nia."
- You know what, Jill, are you done?
- I'm finished.
- Abby gave Nia a solo today.
Today's a good day for Nia
'cause she got the solo by default.
Okay? There you go.
- Unfortunately, Holly was proven right.
Both Nia and JoJo lost to Ava.
- [Abby] She could be a thousand times better
and I want her to be better. - Then help her!
- Let your talent speak for itself, not your mother's mouth.
[intense music]
- Maddie was always Abby's favorite.
- [Abby] At the top, I have Maddie.
On top of the pyramid, we have Maddie.
Praise Maddie.
- [Christi] Which made her mother Melissa
also one of Abby's favorites,
but when Maddie was away shooting a film,
Abby's attention turned to Melissa's other daughter,
Mackenzie, and her upcoming solo.
- I keep almost getting kicked, why am I almost getting kicked?
- [Christi] Which proved disastrous.
- Near the end of last season, you beat Maddie,
but instead of taking that little win,
I don't know what you did.
- [Melissa] You've been her teacher,
so you know her strengths.
- [Abby] But the weaknesses that she had at eight and nine
should not be the same weaknesses now.
- I agree. - The weakness now should be
balancing on the eighth pirouette.
- I don't think many of us can do eight pirouettes.
- I didn't ask you to, Melissa. - [Melissa] I'm just saying.
- [Abby] What is going on with you?
- Done being quiet.
- [Abby] She could be a thousand times better
and I want her to be better. - Okay, then help her.
- You just make one excuse after the other, after the other.
- Then help her!
- Let your talent speak for itself, not your mother's mouth.
- [Melissa] I don't know what Abby's problem is,
but she's really getting on my last nerve.
- [Abby] Come on, if this was your sister,
we would be halfway finished with the number.
- Well, she's not.
Her name's Mackenzie and she's not Maddie, so whatever.
- And what's the name of your dance?
- It's called, "I Just Wanna Stay at Home and Eat Chips".
- [Abby] No.
She can't even remember the name of the dance.
"I Just Wanna Sit on the Couch and Eat Chips",
hence the couch!
Go.
- And what's the name of your dance?
- It's called, "I Just Wanna Stay at Home and Eat Chips".
- [Abby] No.
She can't even remember the name of the dance.
- [Christi] When Maddie was away shooting a film,
all of Abby's attention turned to Maddie's sister, Mackenzie,
and her upcoming solo.
And Abby's frustrations with Mackenzie
pushed Melissa over the edge.
- Go.
So that little smart ass is trying to tell me that
that's not the quote that she said, that we're wrong.
- [Melissa] I'm not gonna have Abby
be mean to my daughter anymore, I can't do it.
Abby's not perfect, that's for (bleep) sure.
Abby, why'd you call Mackenzie a smart ass?
Why? She just said--
- Because she was trying to contradict me.
- [Melissa] No, she said,
"I thought it was 'I Wanted to Stay at Home and Eat Chips',"
because that's what I thought it was too.
- They're talking about one of Mackenzie's
earlier interviews and Melissa was right.
She did say, "I just wanna stay home and eat chips."
- All I wanna do is just stay home and eat chips.
- [Melissa] You don't have to call her a smart ass.
- Well, but you didn't hear the way she said it.
- [Melissa] Okay, but I don't think
you should call her smart ass.
- I'll never call her anything again.
[tense music]
- [Christi] Mackenzie did end up performing
with her couch and chips.
And as usual, Abby's criticisms were spot on.
- In fourth place today,
"I Just Wanna Sit on the Couch and Eat Chips", Mackenzie,
Abby Lee Dance Company!
[crowd clapping]
- [Abby] Mackenzie ended up fourth.
She was less than perfect.
- [Ashlee] You threw Kendall under the bus.
- Threw Kendall under the bus? - Yes, you did.
- [Jessalynn] You're so stupid!
[intense music]
- Oh, I am so glad
that Chloe and I were not here for this one.
Look, solos are tough enough,
and when Abby turned a duet into a solo,
ooh, it was sheer chaos.
- [Abby] Kendall, you're doing a duet with Maddie.
[girls cheering]
- [Melissa] Abby, I don't mean to interrupt,
but Maddie's not gonna be here tomorrow.
- Maddie's not gonna be here.
- It's the Disney 60th Anniversary Special
and Maddie is the only minor in the entire show.
- [Jill] Oh, how fun, yeah.
- Is that fair to the duet partner?
- [Melissa] She's missing one day.
Maddie could have been in two other dances
for the Disney thing,
but I chose one so she could be here,
but I think Maddie can handle it.
- But Abby had other plans.
- Hey, you know what?
I don't know if that duet's gonna happen, Maddie.
Tomorrow, you're not here and the competition is Sunday.
I don't wanna put the two of you on stage
without it being your best foot forward.
We'll see.
- [Melissa] That's bull (bleep).
Maddie turned down other jobs this week to be at the studio.
It just doesn't seem fair.
I'm so sick of it all.
- [Christi] With Maddie out, Abby picked JoJo to sub in
and she could not help but make things worse.
- [Abby] Now, here's my deal, though.
There's nothing making it a duet.
It's just two people dancing side by side.
Should Kendall just do it as a solo?
- No, it's a duet.
- [Christi] Kendall did not wanna do it as a solo
and she fled the room.
- [Melissa] What's wrong?
- Okay.
- [Christi] Which was Abby's cue to turn the chaos up a notch.
[upbeat music]
- [JoJo] I would love to do this MJ dance as a solo,
because I am MJ.
- That was good.
- [Abby] She's doing a solo. - Thank you.
- [Abby] The whole world can say that
I took the duet away from Kendall and I gave JoJo a solo
and I'm, you know, big, bad, old me.
That is not what happened.
Kendall gave JoJo that solo.
- Uh oh.
- Cheers.
- That's not gonna go over, I know.
- Uh oh.
- When Abby changed Kendall's duet to a solo,
it was bad enough, but then by giving it to JoJo,
she was just setting the stage for everyone to fight that day.
- [Christi] I don't consider Jess a team player
by letting JoJo do the solo.
She just basically threw Kendall under the bus.
- [Abby] She's doing a solo. - Thank you.
- Uh oh.
- Cheers. - How you doin'.
- That's not gonna go over, I know.
- Uh oh.
- When Abby changed Kendall's duet to a solo for JoJo,
it put JoJo's mom, Jessalynn,
right in the cross hairs of all the other moms
and trust me, you do not want to be there.
- [Christi] Is she okay?
- She's fine.
- [Christi] Good. Well, they were just saying
that it might be a JoJo solo now.
JoJo did it when you were out talking to Kendall.
- [Jessalynn] Well, and she just kind of did it
in her own little way, like she didn't really care.
She didn't have anything to lose
and she kind of did it better, like more entertaining.
- [Jill] You know what? Enough already.
That's so childish, rude, immature, unprofessional.
My daughter deserves better.
This is a solo now, for JoJo?
- She did it, she was--
- Okay, so you wanna take it away from Kendall then?
You wanna take it away?
- No, she doesn't, she wants to do it as a duet.
- That's the attitude I'm getting too.
- [Jill] Kendall, come here.
Would you rather have JoJo do this as a solo,
or you and JoJo do it as a duet?
- But it's nothing in it is a duet!
There's not one step that is interacting
and that's what we started to say.
- Why is that her fault? - It's not.
- Well, why did you just scream at her?
- [Abby] I didn't scream at her, I'm telling all of them.
I was like this.
- Um, you just screamed and clapped in her face.
- [Abby] No, I did not.
- [Jill] Do you remember what happened
last time Kendall had a duet?
Her partner was pulled and Nia was put in.
- [Jill] Stop, honey. Don't, stop.
- Well, I was yelling at everyone.
- I'm not gonna let you do this, come on.
I'm not gonna let this happen. - Let me talk to her.
Oh my God, they're crazy. - I'm not gonna let this happen.
It's not worth it.
- [Abby] These kids all need to go to the bootcamp
for, like, one week and see how much they get yelled at.
- Someone needed to step in and calm things down, but nope.
Ashlee and Christ-y decided to step in
and stir the pot some more.
- All of a sudden, when it benefits JoJo,
it's okay to take something away from another kid.
- Kendall doesn't wanna do the duet with JoJo.
Kendall doesn't wanna do the dance as a solo.
Kendall wants to do the duet with Maddie.
- [Ashlee] You threw Kendall under the bus to Abby
the second that you-- - Threw Kendall under the bus?
- Yes, you did.
- [Jessalynn] You're so stupid!
- [Christy] You clearly said that JoJo deserves a solo.
- I think we should stay out here.
- Why, who's screaming? - Jess.
- About what?
- [Jessalynn] Christy, I know you're desperate
to be on the team, just...
- [Christi] I'm not desperate, I am part of ALDC.
- The Pittsburgh team, yes.
- You need to tell your friend
that you threw her under the bus.
- Never.
- [Ashlee] Kendall's here, so Jill must be here too.
- Let's go see, let's figure it out.
- What was the yelling?
The kids were, didn't even wanna go in.
- [Christy] We were sticking up for you
because when you left and you were upset,
she said that JoJo deserves the solo.
- She doesn't wanna do a dance with JoJo.
- How do you know that, Jess?
- [Jessalynn] 'Cause she wants to do a duo with Maddie.
JoJo will do the dance no one wants.
Who cares? - She wants it, you took it!
- [Christi] And then the Dance Moms hurricane
stormed into the studio to confront Abby.
Girls, do not do it.
Turn away, go back, don't go in there, don't.
- [Jill] Why did you punish Kendall by taking the duet away?
- [Abby] Let's cut to the chase, I didn't punish Kendall.
- Then what did you do?
- [Abby] I rewarded JoJo.
Did it not work out for Kendall? Didn't work out.
- It never works out for Kendall
and you make sure of it, don't ya?
- When you are given an opportunity
and somebody puts that music on,
honey, you dance a hundred percent.
Whether you like the music, the costume, whatever,
you give it your all.
That's what needs to be learned from this.
JoJo is doing the solo.
She earned the right.
- Whatever, tired of fighting over it.
- Bingo, there you go.
- [Christy] JoJo, you excited about your solo?
- [Christi] Well, I'm sure your mom is happy, honey,
I just feel bad for Kendall.
- [Jill] Here's the thing,
this has nothing to do with Jess or JoJo.
It's Abby's fault.
However, it would've been nice for Jess to say,
"No, this was Kendall's duet.
Kendall should be in it."
But she's not gonna do that.
She wants JoJo to do the solo, so go do it.
I'm tired of fighting about it.
- [Christi] Kendall and Maddie, then Kendall and JoJo.
Then Kendall or JoJo, then just JoJo.
And the worst part about it is poor JoJo didn't even place,
and neither did the group dance.
- [Announcer] "Back in Time"!
[crowd cheering]
- It just goes to show that when chaos hit the studio,
it was our girls that ultimately suffered.
- Go.
- She always is. - I just don't wanna do it.
- [Melissa] So sick of it all.
What's wrong? - I can't do this.