ziegler family
The “Dance Moms” cast says tearful goodbyes to Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler, pictured with their mother Melissa Gisoni at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards on March 12, 2016 in Inglewood, California, during the “Dance Moms” reunion on Tuesday. Getty Images

After weeks of will they, won’t they, Melissa Gisoni finally revealed her children Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler would not be returning to “Dance Moms” after Season 6 this season, but the announcement was a complete shock to her youngest daughter. During Tuesday’s kids-only reunion special on Lifetime, 12-year-old Mackenzie dished on the emotional moment and fans discovered why her mom didn’t tell her she was parting ways with the series sooner.

“When we were in pyramid my sister was like ‘I have to tell you something, but I can’t’ and I was like, ‘OK, well, that’s rude,’” Mackenzie recalled of the day she found out she was leaving Abby Lee Miller’s ALDC. Despite Maddie, 13, not telling her the big news then and there, Mackenzie said her sibling teased she would “really like” it.

It wasn’t until Melissa gathered the ALDC team together later that day, which viewers saw in episode 15, that Mackenzie learned she would be leaving. “Later my mom got all of the girls and she told them that we were going to leave which I didn’t even know,” Mackenzie said. Maddie shared their mom didn’t tell Mackenzie about the move because she’s a “blabbermouth” and may announce the change prematurely.

“I was just really shocked because I feel like I would have been there until the end because I was there from the beginning,” Mackenzie said.

Later in the episode, after a montage of her and Maddie’s best moments from the Lifetime program rolled, Mackenzie tearfully said goodbye to her teammates. “You guys are my sisters and I don’t want to leave you guys,” she said. “It’s just going to be really hard.”

The water works came out again when reunion host Jai Rodriguez asked the young “Dance Moms” stars if they had any parting words for their co-stars. When newcomer Brynn Rumfallo said she didn’t know how she would continue without her friend Mackenzie, the Ziegler sister ran across stage to hug Brynn. Maddie also shed tears saying farewell to JoJo Siwa, Nia Frazier, Kalani Hilliker and shared a big hug with her “best friend” and duet partner Kendall Vertes.

“I just want to thank all of you guys for being such great sisters to me,” Mackenzie said while wiping away tears. “I can’t imagine life without you.” Maddie added to her sister’s speech, saying she feels her teammates are the only ones she can count on. JoJo broke up the sad moment by telling her co-stars they looked ugly crying.

Viewers can catch Maddie and Mackenzie’s final episode of “Dance Moms” on Tuesday, May 24, at 9 p.m. EDT on Lifetime.

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