PHOTOSOK! Exclusive: ‘Dance Moms’ Choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan Reveals His Thoughts On Abby Lee Miller's Fraud Charges
Feb. 9 2016, Updated 7:11 p.m. ET
After Abby Lee Miller resigned from the ALDC amid her fraud charges, Nakul Dev Mahajan stepped in to bring the elite competition team to victory. In an exclusive interview with OKMagazine.com, the choreographer confessed his thoughts on Miller’s bombshell legal troubles and his experience on the show.
“I hope whatever happens the outcome is one of justice and being fair,” the artistic director of NDM Dance Productions and Studios said of Miller’s charges for fraud. “If this is something blown out of portion, I hope she comes out as a winner. If it’s a mistake then we all have to pay our consequences sometimes. Fair is fair.”
Although Mahajan admitted the winning dance he choreographed wasn’t “110 percent clean,” his supportive teaching approach compared to Miller’s tough-love style could’ve aided the team’s first-place win. “I understand Abby’s approach of tough love,” the Bollywood dancer said. “Am I like that in my studio? No, I wouldn’t have a job if I did that.”
Although Miller has come under fire over the years for her favoritism and harsh criticisms of her students, Mahajan believes there is another side to her. “I’m sure there is something Abby is doing that’s making these kids stay in the program,” the So You Think You Could Dance choreographer said. “There might a lot of love we don’t see when the cameras are turned off. No mother or child would stay in such a dysfunctional atmosphere if it were bad all the time.”
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But the students and mothers didn’t seem to miss Miller with Mahajan around, as they called him a “breathe of fresh air.” “The moms were very respectful,” he explained. “I was taken aback by that. They were in gratitude of me being there. The girls were really nice.”
Since Mahajan didn’t get the opportunity to work with Miller, he would be open to returning to the show. “When the producers approached me about it I was excited and happy,” he said. “The show is one of my guilty pleasures.”
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To keep up with Mahajan’s upcoming projects, follow him @NakulDevMahajan. Dance Moms airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Lifetime.
