ABBY LEE MILLER CHALLENGES MADDIE ZIEGLER OVER ‘TOXIC’ DANCE MOMS CLAIMS, ‘WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY IT THEN?’.(PHOTO).

 Abby Lee Miller challenges Maddie Ziegler over ‘toxic’ Dance Moms claims, ‘Why didn’t you say it then?’

Abby Lee Miller has challenged Maddie Ziegler’s description of their time together on “Dance Moms,” questioning why the dancer did not raise concerns with her while they were still close.

Miller, 60, responded to Ziegler’s previous comments that the reality show created a “toxic environment” for its young dancers during an interview with E!’s Hot Goss.

“When you wanted to win and you wanted to come in extra and you wanted more private lessons and you were the driving force, not your mother, why didn’t you say it then?” Miller asked.

The Abby Lee Dance Company founder said she believed she had been more than Ziegler’s dance teacher, particularly during the dancer’s parents’ divorce in 2011.

“When your mother and father are screaming obscenities across the room and you’re hugging me and you’re holding on to me as tight as you can Maddie, why didn’t tell me then you don’t want to do a solo every week?” Miller said. “You don’t want to win every week. You don’t want to be in the front. You could have said that easily to me.”

Miller said she believed their relationship was close enough for Ziegler to have spoken to her directly.

“We were close enough that could have happened,” she said, adding that Ziegler “wanted to win” and “was a perfectionist.”

Ziegler, now 23, has previously described her experience on “Dance Moms” as difficult, while Miller maintains that the former student was committed to competing and improving during their time together.

Asked what it would take to repair their relationship, Miller said she expects Ziegler to make the first move.

“I’m the elder,” she said. “And you have to speak to your elders.”

Miller also addressed comments from another former student, Nia Sioux, about her experience as a child dancer on the show. She said she was surprised that Sioux later spoke about the difficulties she faced.

Miller argued that the dancers could have left the show if they wanted to, claiming they were not under contract.

“They never left until they had a better offer,” she said, referring to Ziegler, Sioux and JoJo Siwa. E! News reached out to the Zieglers for comment but did not immediately receive a response.