Time drags when there’s no screaming, crying and backstabbing, doesn’t it? Well, good news, Dance Moms fans—your favorite reality show is back tonight!

The last time we saw Abby Lee Miller, she had finally made good on her threat to bring in a second dance team to compete against the girls we’ve come to know and love. But there was another twist—she plucked the star of her studio, Maddie Ziegler, off the original team and put her on the new one! Pitting Maddie, 11 (and by extension, her mom, Melissa Gisoni), against her friends has to be good drama, right? Maddie and Melissa gave In Touch a little insight on what to expect, how they feel about their Dance Moms image, and where they currently stand with the rest of the team.

What can you tell us about the upcoming season?

Maddie: It’s definitely going to be really crazy with the moms and Abby, like it always is—but it’s going to be more crazy this time! The new moms and our moms together are just…crazy [laughs].

There is always a lot of drama with the moms, so it makes sense that with more moms, the drama will intensify! It often seems like the other moms gang up on yours, and sometimes even you—how do you feel about that?

Maddie: It bugs me. I know that it’s really hard for the other girls when Abby pays more attention to me. It’s true, they don’t get as much attention. But, I don’t think it’s right for the other moms to talk bad about me or behind my back. It hurts my feelings. And watching them yell at my mom, it makes me sad. Yes, I want to be the favorite and I want to do as many things as I can, but all I do is work hard.

Melissa: I always tell the other moms that if they would just let some of the things Abby does roll off their shoulders, things would be easier. There’s another side to Abby, too. She loves to fool around with the kids and play with them. She shops for them constantly! But they don’t show that.

Sometimes, it seems like the girls are pitted against each other, and for that reason, there’s a lot of interest in their friendships off-screen and viewers sometimes take sides. How do you handle that?

Melissa: When Maddie used to get all this hate, it was hard. She was like, ‘Mom, I know I’m a good person. I don’t do anything to make kids hate me.’ But both she and [sister Mackenzie, 10] realize now that the people who say things on Twitter or whatever, they don’t even know them. So, it doesn’t bother them as much as it used to.

Most of the interest is in the Maddie vs. Chloe [Lukasiak] rivalry.

Melissa: To be honest with you, I don’t think there’s any rivalry at all. That’s why they brought in the second team! You should see Maddie and Chloe backstage, they say ‘I love you,’ they pray together—it’s the cutest thing. The show wants them to be at each other’s throats, but they’re not. They are so supportive of each other.

Maddie: Chloe and I are still friends, we just don’t see each other as much when we aren’t filming. She does her own thing, she does [events] with her mom [Christi Lukasiak] a lot. Nia [Frazier], Kendall [Vertes], Mackenzie and I are all traveling around the world together now, and it’s so much fun.

Melissa: Chloe was invited to come as well.

That’s good to hear. Now, we don’t even like to think about this, but eventually, Dance Moms will end. Will that be difficult for you?

Melissa: No, we have a lot of things going on. Both Maddie and Mackenzie want to be professionals in this business, and the show is just one part of it.

Maddie: I’ll still be at the studio every day and I'll still take dance very seriously. And, the girls there are my best friends. I don't really worry about the show ending, because all that stuff will stay the same!

The second part of Dance Moms season 4 premieres Tues., July 29 at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.

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