It’s been about a decade since fans first met Maddie Ziegler and Kenzie Ziegler on Dance Moms.
The show premiered in 2011—when the sisters were 8 and 6 years old, respectively—and quickly became a hit.
“We got pulled out of school every day to go to dance and film a TV show, so that was not normal at all,” Maddie, now 18, recalled to Kenzie, now 16, during a conversation for Elite Daily. “We ended up not even finishing [at our] elementary school, because we got pulled out so much for work. And then once we started traveling, people started recognizing us. I remember we were in an ice cream store and someone called our names, and we were so freaked out. Like, how did these people know us? And then we realized, Oh, there’s a lot of attention around our show.
The reality series followed Abby Lee Miller‘s team of young dancers and their mothers as the students prepared for and competed in dance contests across the country. While Kenzie admitted growing up in the spotlight was “unusual,” she also said she didn’t remember what life was like before.
“I don’t think we processed how unusual it was for a 6- and 8-year-old,” Maddie agreed. “Luckily, me and you had each other.”