JoJo Siwa Defends Abby Lee Miller's 'Tough Love' Coaching Style on Dance Moms, Says Their Relationship Is 'Amazing'

Despite the brutal lectures she would receive from Dance Moms coach Abby Lee Miller, JoJo Siwa says she's always understood her instructor's motives on a deeper level.

On the April 10 episode of Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, Siwa, 20, looked back at her time on the competitive Lifetime reality show and claimed that she never let Miller's comments get under her skin because she always knew what she was "getting myself into."

"I saw what she was like on TV and I somehow as a kid could always see the bigger picture," she explained.

The "Karma" singer went on to share how her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, would always be "pissed" and "fight all day on set" when she would rank at the "bottom of the pyramid." Despite ranking last among her costars, Siwa knew that even at a young age, there were advantages to placing last.

“And I was like, 'No mom, because the person at the top of the pyramid gets, 'Congratulations, you're at the top.' The person at the bottom though, gets the whole storyline of the TV show.' And she was like, 'How the f--- do you know that?'" she recalled. "I'd be like, 'It literally doesn't matter. Like we are making a TV show.' And so I always kind of realized that."

Since Dance Moms aired its ninth and final season in 2019, many child stars on the reality show have come forward about the alleged emotional and verbal abuse they endured from Miller. While many still possess a fractured relationship with the dance coach, Siwa said that her personal relationship with her is now "amazing."

"The thing is, is I was there to make a TV show. She was there to make a TV show. And that is how dance teachers are," she said, explaining that instructors are known for having a cutthroat nature. “And Dance Moms really just put that on display."

"But I will say, I have had teachers worse than Abby. Like she's not the worst that I've had. Toughness-wise, mean-wise. And I liked it," Siwa added. "Like I wanted to be good, and she was right."

The "Boomerang" singer confessed she always "craved her approval," and pointed out that Miller's notes, however abrasive they may have been, were truths they needed to hear.

“But like, Dance Moms," she said. "There wasn't anything besides like, tough love almost, you know what I mean? Like she wanted us to be the best.”

Siwa's confessions come a month before she's set to reunite with her former costars for the highly anticipated Dance Moms reunion special in May.

Last month, a source exclusively told PEOPLE that some of the cast members requested that their former dance instructor be absent from the upcoming special as the series centered around "the girls and their experience."

"At this point everyone has gone through different eras, had time to reflect and there’s been a lot that Abby put them through emotionally and physically and they just didn’t want to relive that," the source said.

Though the insider noted that there are "ones who say they know they wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Dance Moms," others have stated they want "nothing to do with any of it at all like Maddie [Ziegler]."

"But some of those involved decided that they would only be a part of the reunion if Abby wasn’t," the source continued. "The girls were able to speak their minds more openly without her there."

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Dance Moms: The Reunion premieres Wednesday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.