'Dance Moms' season 7 cast, spoilers: Maddie Ziegler exit leads to lower viewership?

Abby Lee Miller and Maddie ZieglerLifetime

"Dance Moms" season 7 is yet to air, but there are already reports about Maddie Ziegler returning to the show after her exit early in the current season.

Together with mother Melissa Gisoni and her little sister Mackenzie Ziegler, the 13-year-old award-winning dance prodigy left the series to pursue bigger endeavors.

Ziegler has been on a roll ever since she left "Dance Moms." She has already booked two films and has made history in "So You Think You Can Dance" by becoming the youngest judge to ever join the panel.

With her career continuously growing, Ziegler is not expected to be back in "Dance Moms" season 7 or the show altogether. However, some media outlets do not discount the possibility of a cameo.

According to reports, Ziegler's exit from "Dance Moms" led to a sharp decline in ratings and viewership, which is evident in the data gathered by TV Series Finale.

There, it is suggested that the episode that featured the Zieglers in their final competition as Abby Lee Dance Company or ADLC members had 1.41 million viewers tuning in.

The next three episodes after that, although it featured the final goodbyes of the youngsters, garnered much fewer viewers. The decline was by the hundred thousand. The final two did not even reach a million.

This appears to suggest that many "Dance Moms" fans stopped tuning in knowing that the Zieglers won't be joining competitions anymore and won't perform for the show any longer. This might explain the sudden decline.

"Dance Moms" season 7 is set for premiere next year. It is said that it might not perform as good as the previous seasons that had Ziegler in it. Either way, Lifetime has renewed the show and is confident that many fans will stick around.

Dance coach Abby Lee Miller herself has been doing her best to find "the next Maddie." She also has her eye on Brynn Rumfallo, who she believes can go the same level, if not over, as Ziegler.