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Former Dance Moms star Nia Sioux is opening up about the racism she endured during her years on the hit reality show.
In her new memoir, "Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life," Sioux recounts her experience as the only Black member on the show's competitive dance team.
Dance Moms viewers often witnessed tense moments between dance teacher Abby Lee Miller and the young students on the competition team. However, Sioux said the racism she faced off-camera was far more severe.
According to book excerpts obtained by PEOPLE, Sioux writes that Miller once asked her, “Don’t you wish you just had White-girl hair?”
The then-teen dancer said she was taken aback but responded “No,” to which Miller replied, “Like you don’t think it would be much easier?”
In another part of her memoir, Sioux recalls Miller saying, “Well, you know your people [Black people] have flat feet,” during a critique of her dance form, a comment the dancer said was “ignorant” and “hurtful.”
“She’d threaten punishment for my perceived shortcoming,” Sioux writes. “‘If you don’t point that foot, I’m gonna come out there and break it.’”
Sioux, who joined Dance Moms at just nine years old, has since become an actress, author, and advocate for self-empowerment. Her memoir sheds light on what she calls “the cost of perfectionism” in the competitive dance world and how she learned to reclaim her confidence after years of being underestimated.
"Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life" is out now.
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