'Dancing with the Stars' guest judge Abby Lee Miller: Maksim Chmerkovskiy was disrespectful

Abby Lee Miller has fired back at Maksim Chmerkovskiy after he snapped at her criticism during Monday night's performance show on ABC.


After Chmerkovskiy took the stage with his celebrity partner Meryl Davis for a rumba routine, Miller -- the star of Dance Moms who was serving as a guest judge -- tore apart Davis' footwork, leading Chmerkovskiy to tell Dancing with the Stars co-host Erin Andrews, "I really don't care for anything that she has to say."

"I don't think it was hurtful to me, no sweat off of my back," Miller told E! News after the show.

"But I think it was a little bit disrespectful to ABC and to Dancing With the Stars and to a judge. Isn't that what I teach my students? You may not like what the judges have to say, you may not like losing, but if you're going to step out on the dance floor and you're going to put yourself out there, you have to be open to the criticism."

Miller had told Davis she was just being specific and critical because she believes the Sochi Olympics ice dancing gold medalist could definitely win Dancing with the Stars' eighteenth season.


"Coming into this tonight, I thought she was the shoo-in for the win. Her body lines, she's sculpted, she's stunning. She's obviously had years of ballet training with the ice dancing. I mean, she's exquisite, and the emotional execution, she has it all," Miller explained.

"But tonight, from where I was sitting on the side parallel to them, all the footwork was horrendous. And I watched the rehearsal too... I heard she had a broken toe or something, so I watched very closely. When they were safe and they weren't in danger, she jumped up and down on her toes, she [went up on] releve, and so I thought, 'That toe is not hurting too bad.'"

However, the reality TV star said she "had a great time" judging the night of competition. As far as Chmerkovskiy goes, he stood by his comment after the show.

"I just answered [Erin's] question. Somebody asked me a question and I answered it," Chmerkovskiy told E! News.

"That's what it was. You want me to lie? I can lie, but you'll see it on my face. It is what it is.  My thing is that I am just enjoying this process, so Maks is back, but not back, whatever -- you have no idea who Maks is. This is me, this is how I want to be. I just want to have fun and enjoy myself."


Davis added that while she's "a little disappointed with the scores," she loved their rumba routine and wouldn't have wanted to change a thing about it. Miller scored the couple an 8, which is considered low for the pair at this point in the season.

"I don't think what she said was inaccurate but did it warrant an 8? I'm not sure," Davis told the website. "I will try to point my feet though."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski