Originally published on 11/4/25

For seven seasons, from 2011 to 2016, Nia Sioux stole viewers’ hearts  on the hit reality TV show Dance Moms. And while little girls everyone wanted to be her, Sioux has a different opinion, which she details in her new memoir, Bottom of The Pyramid. In the book, Sioux, now 24, shares just how gruesome things got behind the scenes with Abby Lee Miller and the moms—especially when it came to how the children were being treated. Woman’s World recently sat down with her to discuss that and more. Read what Sioux had to say below. 

Nia Sioux shares why she wanted to write a book 

Unlike a lot of her castmates, Sioux wasn’t at the 2024 Dance Moms reunion, but not for the reasons you might think. In the opening section of her memoir, she shares that while she did want to share her side of the story, she wanted to do it her own way and at her own time. 

“It’s always something I thought about. I mean, right after the show ended was when I really, really wanted to share my story, but I didn’t. I felt ready, but I wasn’t, and I’m happy I waited,” Sioux tells Woman’s World, before sharing what it was really like to go back and relive these moments. “It was hard revisiting some of the more difficult moments, because there are moments I haven’t really thought about since they happened.” 

“I remember them, but I don’t really think about them too often, because it is sad and it is a little bit traumatizing at times, and it doesn’t make me feel great. So looking back at those experiences and watching back from an adult lens has been really interesting,” she continues “And my heart breaks for that little girl that was on the screen, for that 9-year-old little girl. I felt like I was a fan watching the show, and I was rooting for myself. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. This is so bad,’ but sometimes you don’t realize it when you’re in it. You understand that it might be bad, but you don’t realize it until you get out of it and have some space from it.” 

Since leaving the show, Sioux has graduated from UCLA with a degree in American Literature and Culture. She is now pursuing a career in the arts. 

“The biggest takeaway for me is the underlying message of persevering and resilience. There’s nothing that you can’t do, and I hope my story inspires and I can lead by example,” she says. “You get to write your own story. People can make the lives they truly want, no matter where they come from, no matter what they’ve been through. It doesn’t define them. The only person that gets to define you and your story is yourself.”

Nia Sioux gets real about her time on ‘Dance Moms’ 

Throughout her time on Dance Moms, Sioux asserts that she was cast in stereotypical roles. Her mother, Dr. Holly Frazier, often voiced her distaste over these things, but when it came to Miller, none of it mattered. 

“When I was younger, I understood what was problematic, but I was just happy to be there. I was just happy to be dancing. I was happy to get a solo or a special part. So I was less worried about the context of things. But once I became a teenager, it made me uncomfortable. I felt like the token black girl, and that wasn’t fun to only be used for dances about my race. Sometimes they’re stereotypes that are just so inappropriate,” Sioux says. 

Even with all that, Sioux never regretted staying on the show for seven seasons—the only cast member to do so. 

“Yes, it was difficult, but I’m not a quitter. And quitting felt like leaving to me, so I really did not want to do that, especially at the time,” she says before sharing what she thinks about the fellow dancers’ situations. “I don’t blame the girls for anything. I blame the adults in these situations. I blame the moms. I blame Abby, I blame the producers even though it’s their job. But I don’t blame any of the girls for anything that’s happened in the past, and I think they feel the same way toward me.” 

Nia Sioux is still close to some of the ‘Dance Moms’ cast 

Speaking of girls, Sioux says they do keep in touch from time to time, and fellow dancer Chloé Lukasiak wrote the foreword to her book. 

“A lot of us don’t live in the same place anymore and are in very different stages of our lives, but Chloé and I still remain good friends,” Sioux says. “It meant the world to me that she wrote the foreword to my book, because I know she’s been through so much as well. I feel like our stories are very similar and it’s just very special to have her by my side.” 

The one person Sioux doesn’t keep in touch with is Miller, saying, “I danced with Abby since I was 3, so I didn’t really know anything else outside of her.” 

“I know what makes good TV, but I will never understand why someone would ever be that way toward children. I don’t have a relationship with her now, and I’m very much okay with that.” 

You can pick up your copy of Bottom of The Pyramid now wherever books are sold.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/books/nia-sioux-reveals-dance-moms-trauma-in-new-memoir-exclusive