Former “Dancing With the Stars” judge Cheryl Burke will replace Abby Lee Miller on the hit Lifetime reality show “Dance Moms,” according to Entertainment Tonight.
Ms. Miller, who started the show in her Penn Hills dance studio in 2011, quit Sunday in a strongly worded Instagram post. She is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty last year to charges of concealing assets during a bankruptcy filing. Her next court hearing in Pittsburgh is scheduled for May 9 and 10.
Ms. Burke, who has starred on 19 seasons of “Dancing With the Stars,” has a clothing line sold through QVC and once owned a dance studio in Mountain View, Calif. She has been competing internationally since age 13, according to her website, and appeared on the first season of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2005 with partner Nick Lachey.
“Dance Moms” will resume filming its seventh season this week, with Ms. Burke taking part in the last four episodes, according to Entertainment Tonight. Celebrity choreographer Laurieann Gibson had also been filling in on the show.
On Instagram Sunday, Ms. Miller indicated that she was quitting because of friction with the shows’ producers. “I JUST HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BEING MANIPULATED, DISRESPECTED, AND USED — DAY IN AND DAY OUT BY MEN WHO NEVER TOOK A DANCE LESSON IN THEIR LIVES AND TREAT WOMEN LIKE DIRT!”
She posted on Instagram early Wednesday morning that she is “looking at the vast miraculous future with hope and determination!”
The show launched the career of 14-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler, formerly of Murrysville, who has starred in multiple Sia videos and is the author of a New York Times bestselling memoir.
First Published: March 29, 2017, 5:59 p.m.