They always asked me the most stupid things, Kelly says, about Dance Mom reunion shows, the first of which is the subject of today’s podcast episode. Christi reminds us that the Moms were the real stars of the show and they got up to a lot while their daughters were endlessly rehearsing with Abby. They attempted to work out at the gym but always got sidetracked to the same place. Christi reveals why she would sit outside of the studio at the bus stop and who she spent hours talking to there. Abby spent much of her free time seeing hundreds of Broadway shows, which she always managed to brag about.The Moms have an unbreakable bond that far precedes and has long outlasted the show. Christi recalls what she said to the officer who pulled her over while she was rushing Nia and Chloe to a competition, as well as the incident during Clara’s birth that Paige and Chloe still talk about every time they see her. No one talks to Abby anymore, but they still think of her and the lingering influence she and the show had on the girls’ psyches, and the Moms’ careers and parenting styles. If Abby had had a child, things might have been very different, since she would have understood the extent of the Moms’ responsibilities, and the lengths to which they were willing to go for their children. They give suggestions to improve Jill’s reunion show wardrobe and discuss the hit job Kelly’s stylist did on her hair.Quotes“It's funny because I said nobody understands like us, we all have each other's back and Abby's rolling her eyes. The five of us still talk and nobody talks to her. So roll your eyes all you want Abby.” (41:12-41:24 | Christi) “Abby said, ‘I can always create another family.’...None of those little families worked out as well as us. No, they were all just trying to be us.” (41:42-42:06 | Kelly and Christi)“Abby was trying to take Jill to etiquette school to teach her how to glide down the stairs. You can't sit in a chair, but you're going to teach Jill how to glide down stairs. OK. Whatever.” (1:44:49-1:45:03 | Christi) LinksSubscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarreThank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We thought we’d take you guys on a little jaunt down memory lane,” says Christi, who describes, along with Kelly, what it was like, as regular moms from Pittsburgh, to attend the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. They recall which celebrities acted like fans toward the cast and which were really rude to them. The drama that went into getting ready–including Kelly throwing a pair of shoes at Christi– reflected the gray area between their old lives and their newfound fame. While it wasn’t always as much fun as it might have seemed, the thought of that time still makes them emotional. Later in the episode, they answer fan questions about the state of their friendship and how their time on Dance Moms has changed the way they view reality TV. The real drama, they explain, took place behind the scenes among the crew, including a strange image that one of the cast members found on one of the crew member’s laptop. Fame still feels strange though people still refer to them–literally–as icons all these years later.  Despite not seeing each other as often as they used to, Kelly and Christi always pick up right where they left off. Hear them find out which of the Golden Girls best represents each of the Dance Moms, their plans to open a bar/laundromat and why Kelly hates Mother’s Day.Quotes“This is before we realized that people had stylists…When people brought it up, I thought, ‘The Kardashians have stylists, not Kelly Hyland from Pittsburgh…‘That's just weird.’ (21:06-21:34 | Christi and Kelly)“I intentionally keep those shoes in the front of my shoe rack. They make me smile every time I look at them, because it was such a moment where I thought…‘How did we get here?’...” (28:43-29:07 | Christi)“I remember them saying, ‘Everybody practice ‘Call Me Maybe’ because they're going to have us sing it…’ I did not know the song. The entire world sang that song over and over and over and over again. I’m old. A little behind the times...still wearing a f***ing banana clip.” (30:43-31:18 | Christi and Kelly) “They give you Dixie cups of wine at the awards show. So, we had 27. I had one between each finger.” (34:52-34:58 | Christi)LinksSubscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarreThank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Chloe for being our very special guest this episode!LinksSubscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarreThank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s finally time,” says Brooke about making her long-awaited guest appearance on Back to the Barre. Throughout the episode, her references reiterate the robust second life that Dance Moms has been given on TikTok. She explains what the platform has dubbed “The Brooke Effect,” and that she learned from many of her followers that her inability to remember much from her time filming the show is actually a trauma response. As Kelly points out, Brooke was the worst age to film the show, not only because she was basically going through puberty on camera. She was old enough to teach the younger girls how to kiss on the back of the bus while traveling to competitions, but too young to join Kelly and Christi as they passed wine back and forth through the cracks in the seats. Producers of all kinds continue to sell the Hyland girls short, as this episode shows Brooke recording her “Summertime Love Song” in L.A., where the girls have stayed to compete at Intensity Dance ahead of Nationals. Music producers autotuned her naturally lovely voice beyond recognition, and the show forced her to work with small-time producers who buried her singing career. According to Kelly, Brooke never made a penny from the record or the merch. Abby appointed herself director of Brooke’s music video which featured all the girls, even directing Maddie to dance in heavy traffic. Throughout today’s episode, they discuss behind-the-scenes stories and clips that were never aired, like what the big lips on Kendall’s costume were a tribute to and what Brooke’s young male co-star said about Brooke off-camera. We also learn why Kelly sat in a dumpster all afternoon and why Christi had to explain STDs to the girls at seven in the morning. Quotes“We're always on the bottom row, huh, Brookie? We lived there. That’s where all my money went. I paid rent on the third row of the pyramid.” (23:09-23:20 | Kelly) “People who grew up watching the show and are coming back have a better understanding of it now that they're adults…I mean, there is absolutely an element of crazy there ” (100:53-1:01:20 | Christi)“McKenzie was sucking her thumb and carrying around a blanket and I had a boyfriend who was driving around.” (1:07:59-1:08:06 | Brooke)LinksSubscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarreThank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“This episode is infamous as far as bad behavior goes,” says Christi. It’s so full of offenses neither she nor Kelly can believe it’s still airing, especially with the way the world has changed in the ten years since it first aired. Kaya and her daughter Nicaya arrive to audition to be on the ALDC, or really, as the other Dance Moms realize but can’t break the fourth wall to say, to be on the show. Producers were always threatening to replace the Moms with new people if they didn’t cooperate, and Kaya and Nicaya were the first to come from far away to join the team/show. The group dance is its own source of cringe. The girls, including Paige, who is trying to learn the dance as her broken foot heals, portray children living in a mental institution. Abby waits until the last minute to include Nicaya in the dance when the girls perform it at Nationals in L.A. Nia’s solo is a tribute to Josephine Baker and Abby’s attempts to emulate it–she only ever attempted Nia’s choreography, Kelly points out–makes everyone react somewhere between a laugh and a shudder. Christi utters the phrase she regrets more than anything she has ever said on the show. She and Kelly explain why their husbands were the true unsung heroes of the show and the rare moment of sympathy they have for Abby in this episode. Quotes“It's amazing to me what an example of bad behavior across the board this show is and people continue to watch it…We wouldn't be doing 90% of the shit that we did.” (28:12-28:31 | Christi and Kelly)“Why does everybody just get to walk in and be in our dances?...You know I’m never on Abby's team, but I would be so pissed if somebody told me to put a kid in that I had never worked with right before Nationals.” (43:04-43:25 | Christi)“Melissa is asking Kaya about her previous relationships, and this actually made me laugh. She says, ‘What made you go from a man to a woman? And I am howling, because I know Melissa, and I know what Melissa likes about a man.” (1:10:11-1:10:29 | Christi)“Everybody makes Paige out to be stupid and can't ever learn or remember anything. She learned the dance in half the time as everybody else did. She punched herself in her face just as well as anybody else.” (1:08:02-1:08:16 | Christi and Kelly) LinksSubscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarreThank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.