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"This is the Season 4 pre-Reunion. They just look for new ways to torment us at all times."

What's up Bitchettes! Before we get the ball rolling on Season 5 we thought it would be fun to leave no stone unturned and revisit Season's 4 lost episode, "Guess Who's Coming to the Dance" aka the second Season 3 reunion? Yes this episode technically aired as as part of Season 4, but it's ostensibly just another reunion where the only new things we discussed were the revelations from the previous reunion. Did production just need a refresher for the audience, or do they just really hate the moms that much?

Well at the very least it's another episode with both Christi and Kelly present, and you we won't be seeing much of them for a while!

So join us as we look back at a time when there was still hope for the future. Perhaps hope is a strong word, but they didn't know how bad things could possibly get.

Quotes

• “I'm very humbled, thank you for that." (23:16-23:18 | Christi)
• “You sent in a blurry picture to audition for a TV show! Hey, they hired me didn't they? They did hire you. They liked my meaness. they liked your blur." (24:15-24:26 | Christi & Kelly)
• “The more I sit back and think about it, and this is a lot to unpack, I think I wanted Abby's approval." (24:45-24:53 | Christi)
• “So now Jill changes the subject from Melissa's dick. Thank god!" (1:10:44-1:10:50 | Christi and Kelly)

Links

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"The last episode we did was really heavy, and this one is not going to be easy for me. It is for me!" jokes Kelly, but for Christi it really is one last rough plunge. While Kelly gets to sit out the Season 4 Reunion "Playing Favorites", Christi wasn't so lucky. At least she didn't have to go first this time! But it is officially Christi's last episode until Season 7, so there's a lot to unpack.

Jeff Collins is back and as frustrating as ever, backing Abby up whenever possible and changing the subject if it looks like things might get dicey. Special attention is given to Maddie on this recap since she's still riding high off the success of Chandelier, and her second Sia video is in the process of being prepped. But the moms take issue with Melissa's backhanded dealings to get Maddie ahead, even at the cost of Mackenzie. But Melissa can't admit she might be wrong as she's only looking out for her own kids, despite the fact that all the moms would stick their neck out for each other's child.

Holly takes Abby to task for how she treats Nia and her odious teaching methods. Meanwhile the Select team airs their grievances over what they see as a lack of good choreography when it comes to standing a chance competitions, realizing finally what the OG moms had warned them about.

Quotes

• “Can I borrow your get your finger out of my face dress? For what, Halloween?!? No, and not my wig either. OH MY GOD, I forgot you had a wig. Kelly let me borrow both! No! I hate you!" (17:18-17:34 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I thought that [whiteboard] experiment would have opened Abby's eyes a little bit. No. Kelly she has her eyes slammed shut. She has them glued with E6000 and she's wearing a sleep mask. She doesn't want her eyes open." (39:39-39:56 | Christi & Kelly)
• “Last week when Abby said that about [Chloe's] eye, they did not write that in the field notes. They're protecting her even in field notes." (43:55-44:01 | Christi)
• “The moms on the original team argued with each other, but we never got physical. Ok except for me and Leslie, but that doens't count because it wasn't someone on the team. " (1:15:14-1:15:09 | Christi and Kelly)

Links

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Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

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"I was the Supervising Producer. That was my official title, but I was also unofficially Abby Lee Miller's rodeo clown."

Kelly is going be taking a break this week, so in her place we have Replacement Bitch #2: Erin! Erin was a Supervising Producer on Season 4 of Dance Moms and if you thought Annie had some piping hot tea, Erin's has a lot more to spill. As one of her primary duties was interviewing Abby for the show, Erin found herself on the receiving end of Abby's ire on more than a few occasions. So what are Erin's spicy-Abby takes, and how did she go about getting what she wanted out of Abby? Tune-in to find out!

Quotes

• “I walked in and Patience is like, 'Oh, is this the new girl?' And I'm like oh hi, I just got here. And she's like, 'Welcome to Hell.'" (07:27-07:36 | Erin)
• “Oh no! Not the 'call my mom first'!" (15:07-15:10 | Christi)
• “Somebody feed this bitch a burger! Because you're mean and I'm trying to be funny with you, but you're hungry." (40:03-40:09 | Christi)
• “If you guys shot, after Abby went to jail, a jailhouse dance would have been incredible." (46:14-46:20 | Erin)

Links

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Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

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"I went old school today. I will be drinking heavily during this episode, because I watched it and I have a lot to say," laments Christi as she does have quite a bit to say about what really went down on her last day as a member of the ALDC.

"Hollywood Here We Come Part 2" sees Cathy follow through on her promise to rub it in Abby's face that the Candy Apples will be performing to Chandelier. Unfortunately for Cathy (who clearly is already uncomfortable with the production forcing her to do so), everyone finds this more annoying than devastating. It's a disservice to her own team to be seen trying to cash in on Maddie's moment, a fact Melissa drives home by getting Maddie to perform a bit of the actual music video dance for the crowd in order to steal candy apple's thunder.

Meanwhile, Abby is more determined than ever to try and embarrass Chloe, from sabotaging the choreography to praising Kamryn for the same things Chloe always gets scolded for. So you can imagine when the judges decide to favor Chloe over Kamryn, Abby's mood sowers very quickly. Things come to a head when Abby starts dishing out some truly outrageous insults that almost trick Christi into recreating Kelly's infamous fight. So what held her back? Tune-in for all the secrets to finally be revealed!

Quotes

• “I don't need my eyes to listen to you say stupid things." (42:32-42:35 | Christi)
• “This is weird. This is so bizarre, like who is coming up with this s**t? Can I please produce? Put me up in the booth! " (52:32-52:36 | Christi & Kelly)
• “Obviously Abby went to a tanning booth the day before this competition. Oh my god she was like orange! Yes with that orange lipstick! It was so bad. And she says the word 'hhhuuuuugggeee' all the time? All I was thinking is there is another reality star who is orange and says that a lot and I've never seen them in the same room together. So could they be the same person!? " (1:23:43-1:24:04 | Christi)
• “I'm hoping Back to the Barre can get funny again. Cause it used to be funny and maybe now that we're not going through torture we can jsut mock it?" (1:42:11-1:42:20 | Christi)

Links

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Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarre

Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

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"We know that production is doing this. Everything that was stupid, they did," remarks Kelly. Well how stupid could things get? Well how about a Hip-hop Dance Battle?! Cause sure, that'll make the girls look good! Unfortunately as the two part Season 4 finale gets underway, both the Production AND Abby seemingly have it out for the ALDC and there's good reason these ended up being Christi's last days on the show.

The team arrives in Los Angeles for Nationals and Abby has an important announcement to ring in the occasion: She's setting up a new studio in LA. The moms wonder, perhaps naively, how Abby is going to manage to run two studios when she can barely run one! But right now the greater concern is Nationals as nobody is happy with the solos line-up of Chloe, Kendall and Kamryn. Holly is upset Nia was excluded once again and Chloe is upset she's been given bad choreography out the gate. Notably absent from the line-up is Maddie, which everyone finds suspicious.

Meanwhile Cathy delivers a gift to Abby that's sure to stir up trouble.

Quotes

• “Jill needs supervision. But not in a bad way. Like you and I need supervision in a different kind of way." (05:44-05:50 | Christi)
• “In this episode if I heard one more person say the word Nationals... I know! Like oh my god I cannot wait for Nationals to be over. How about everyone drink for nationals? That'll be fun, everyone will be drunk before we get to page three." (13:08-13:22 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I had to pay money to watch this episode. I'm so mad, I want a refund! Somebody give me my $2.11 back!" (46:22-46:29 | Christi)
• “Did you notice that Abby found a cheese mat in LA? I did. She's like a mouse, she can sniff out cheese anywhere she goes." (51:38-51:47 | Christi & Kelly)

Links

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Grab your Back to the Barre LIVE tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/back-to-the-barre-with-christi-kelly-live-barre-crawl-tickets-1626773767129?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiak

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"I cheer for the Dallas Cowboys! Yay! Just so you know, Jill is basically steal your soul at some point."

This week we have a very special guest joining us at the Barre: NFL Cheerleader Karley Swindel! On our latest season of Pillow Talk we're covering Season 2 of America's Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and Karly is one of the team's current group leaders. She's also just so happens to be a huge Dance Moms fan! And because this is related to Pillow Talk, joining us today is also Melissa and Jill!

The moms are eager to pick Karley's brain about the in's and out of what it takes to make the team, how have the routines changed season to season, and how has her outlook changed in the 4 years since she began. Karley is also a dance teacher, and she herself was once a dance kid with her own dance mom, so how did Dance Moms influence her? Tune-in to find out!

Quotes

• “I told you someone called me a generational icon, I'm like seriously? I guess? I don't know about that. Ah look, it's better than some of the things we've been called in the past." (00:35-00:47 | Christi & Kelly)
• “All I'm going to say is I feel like you've been waiting for this for 14 years... it's not a hot guy tho. I've been waiting for one of them' for 54 years!" (10:43-10:55 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I have to know in your very professional opinion, could Jill be the point? That's all she wants in life. Oh of course!" (20:13-20:21 | Christi & Karley)
• “I want a french twist so bad!" (49:33-49:35 | Karley)

Links

Follow the adorable @Karley_Swindel on IG!

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"Chloe turned to me and said I'm never going to dance on this stage again, am I? Like she knew, it was really sad," remembers Christi as she looks back on her last ALDC Annual Dance Concert. On "45 Second Solos", Chloe doesn't even get a chance to shine as she's put on medical rest due to her fracturing her foot suddenly offscreen. Of course it didn't seem that way to viewers as the cover story for her eye problem in the week prior was a foot problem as well, so now it just comes across as Christi and Chloe being a little shifty on screen, leading to accusations off screen of faking it for the camera (more on that in this week's Producer Notes).

Abby gives the girls a challenge: perform a 45 second solo of "their choosing" (as in the Producer's choosing) before the actual recital this week to determine who will get a solo at Nationals. To add some drama, Abby brings in Kamryn as Chloe's replacement. Christi is still made at Abby for trying to convince the judges in a previous competition to throw out Chloe's win in favor of Kamryn, so this development doesn't sit well. And to make matters worse, multiple fights break out between the moms... they just mostly happen off camera (again, lot of stuff in the Producer's Notes this week).

But Abby has a solution to ease everyone's tension... a dunk tank! Why?! Who cares!

Quotes

• “We all have to take a moment and just apreciate the fact that Christi and Kelly have any sort of tech capabilities whatsoever. Because I have the perfect example of why I'm not qualified to do tech. When I was prepping tech for Pillow Talk, I literally electrocuted myself." (10:05-10:24 | Christi)
• “The dance concert is the culmination of all the hard work the kids have done all year; it's the hottest ticket in town. Gurl no it's not, because you sent us to Shady-side and we couldn't even get the gays to come! There were rhinestones! It is not the hottest ticket in town." (20:59-21:14 | Christi)
• “Abby says at the dance concert I will be the executioner, judge and jury... it should be judge, jury and executioner. She did it the wrong way just like she did red, white and black all over." (29:51-30:03 | Christi)
• “Abby turns to Sarah and calls her a dingbat for sitting in... Oh she stole my name!" (1:02:27-1:02:34 | Christi & Kelly)

Links

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Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

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"That is one of the dances I pull out and show people to say I had to do this on national television when I was 13," according to Chloe; so despite what the actual results of this week's competition say; we're in for a real stinker this week!

As the second half of "Another One Bites the Dust" gets underway at DanceKidsUSA, Cathy makes a surprise appearance... ok well the moms knew she would be there, but Abby was none the wiser and is immediately displeased. She attempts to put on a good face and ignore Cathy's barbs, but it's begins to dawn on Abby that production may be up to something with Cathy (Nationals are around the corner after all). Offscreen Abby gets her jabs in by talking over Lucas' solo entree, which rightfully riles up Cathy.

Meanwhile Nia stuns with her tribute solo to Maya Angelou, which for many fans is often remembered as one of Nia's best. But despite being equally praised by the judges, the same cannot be said of the group routine: The Seven Dancers. Maybe it's the t-shirts, the awkward black belts or the bizarre headpieces... but anyway you look at it, it's a pretty bad dance. Did you like this dance? Because it's been 11 years and we still don't know how this took 1st!

Quotes

• “Kelly, they know we're normal people if they listen to the podcast... I don't think Kelly has pants on right now you guys. I was hot! We're pretty normal, Kelly doesn't have pants on." (08:27-08:41 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I was just going to say I've been mad before but I've never tried to injure someone, that's not true!" (14:07-14:12 | Christi)
• “Tracey thought this dance was atrocious. She struggled all week and wondered why she let her daughter do it on TV. This dance is awful. Yeah, try doing that for four seasons!" (40:08-40:20 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I told you I agreed with that, but you don't say that! You say that to someone behind the scenes later in the privacy of your own home with a glass of wine. Exactly!" (54:10-54:23 | Christi & Kelly)

Links

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Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

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This isn’t just a podcast recap — it’s a full night out packed with fan-favorite moments, insider producer notes, hilarious games, juicy audience Q&As, and so much more. Whether you’re a diehard Dance Moms OG or new to the chaos, this is your chance to be part of the Back to the Barre family in person.

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"We're getting into the end of Christi Lukasiak days on Dance Moms, and I'm feeling a type of way about it." reflects Christi as each week it becomes clearer and clearer the series of events that finally broke the camel's back. And on the first half of "Another One Bites the Dust" Abby is just adding fuel to that fire as she takes aim at Chloe's injury. Of course at this time Christi says they didn't even know what was wrong with Chloe's eye, so instead she offered-up the excuse of a foot injury so Chloe could make her hospital appointments. Abby of course is mad, go figure! If it wasn't bad enough that Abby would eventually make fun of Chloe's eye anyways, Chloe is close to actually injuring her foot as well! It's going to be a rough last couple of weeks for the Lukasiaks that's for certain.

But if that wasn't bad enough, Abby decides the girls should get a lighter week before Nationals and assigns a Seven Dwarves themed group number. Aside from the fact they'll only have two days to rehearse the number, every girls is also given a cringe inducing character and outfit that's sure to help! However the bigger question on everyone's mind is who is going to make the cut for nationals? As if to stir the pot further Abby brings in Select Team alternate Kaleigh to join the group routine, leading Sarah R's mom Tracey to question if they're being edged out.

Quotes

• “You showed your nipples on social media for your daughter! Just so she didn't! I went to jail for you AND I showed my nipples. Oh my god this is a nipple heavy episode." (08:24-08:40 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I need you to go back to just being Kelly in the dumpster. Wouldn't that be nice? I want to go back to that to." (17:50-17:56 | Christi & Kelly)
• “I need somebody with a degree to tell us what all of our mental health issues are." (22:16-22:24 | Christi)
• “I would say I'd be 'Honest'. Ok, that's not a dwarf name! You have to have a stupid name to be a dwarf." (41:46-41:52 | Christi & Kelly)

Links

Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w 

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarre

Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiak

Follow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland

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