While Kendall Vertes was not an original member of the Dance Moms cast, she did have a very long stint on the show. The dancer and her mother, Jill Vertes, joined the hit reality TV show in its sophomore season and were important members of the cast until the show’s original hiatus in season 7. But the story of how Kendall really joined the show is not the one that fans actually watched in season 2. So what really happened?
Kendall Vertes attended Abby Lee Miller’s open call in season 2
Dance Moms fans will recall that in season 2, Abby Lee Miller (choreographer and studio owner of the ALDC) held open auditions for her Junior Elite Competition Team. A big part of the season’s beginning centered around the open call and Miller bragged about the line around the block of dancers wanting to join her team. Ultimately, it was Kendall who was selected to join the traveling team.
The dancer explained how she really joined the ‘Dance Moms’ cast
But there was another audition that Kendall actually went through that had nothing to do with dance. Prior to showing off her dancing skills, Kendall had to interview with the Dance Moms producers. They wanted to see if she had the temperament and free time to be on a reality show. Only when she was considered a good fit for the show was she even allowed to dance for Miller.
“I actually didn’t come on the show until the second season,” Kendall recalled to Feeling the Vibe when speaking about joining the Dance Moms cast. “I went on an audition in front of the producers. There was an interview and they also asked how I would fit my schoolwork in if I were in the show. The producers wanted to see if I fit the mold. The big part of the audition was dancing for Abby.”
Ultimately, Kendall impressed Miller enough to earn a spot on her team. Of course, the dancer teacher made both Kendall and Jill jump through many hoops before she took them off probation. It would be weeks before the dancer finally earned a permanent spot on the Junior Elite Competition Team. Dance Moms fans will remember that Kendall and Jill even had a brief stint on Cathy Nesbitt-Stein’s team, the Candy Apples. However, that storyline was actually a producer-driven setup as well.
Jill Vertes explains why the ‘Dance Moms’ producers forced her and Kendall to briefly join Candy Apples
“I had no choice Cathy was the antagonist of the show,” Jill explained to Entertainment Tonight about being forced to briefly join the Candy Apples. “The producers loved Cathy and Vivi.” Continuing on, Jill shared that she and Cathy never got along during their entire Dance Moms’ tenure. “The producers loved Cathy and they wanted her in the show at any cost,” Jill explained. “So they shipped me over there you know. I didn’t want to be there and Cathy and I never really cared much for each other so, at the beginning, we had to pretend.”
Clearly, the Dance Moms producers had a ton of power when it came to crafting the show. From casting Kendall and Jill to pigeonholing some dancers with very specific edits. So while the show may have been based in reality, there were a lot of things that went on that weren’t that true.
