On March 26, 2026, during a taping of Therapuss with Jake Shane, Maddie Ziegler recalled the afternoon she lost to tate mcrae at a major dance awards show when she was a child — a moment that lodged in her memory and, she says, shaped how she handled competition.
How did the rivalry begin?
The rivalry dates back to early competitive dance circuits. Maddie Ziegler, 23, former competitive dancer and Dance Moms alum, said she remembers competing against tate mcrae when she was just 9 years old and losing at what she called the Dance Awards — “the biggest thing you could win. ” Ziegler admitted she was a “sore loser” as a child. “Like, if I didn’t win, I was like really upset, ” she said on Therapuss with Jake Shane.
What happened on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation?
Years after that contest, their paths crossed again on national television. Ziegler was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation when tate mcrae appeared as a competitor. Ziegler described the experience as “so weird, ” noting that she and the young dancer “technically” weren’t allowed to be friends while the show was filming. The competition ended with tate mcrae finishing third.
How did a rivalry change into friendship?
Ziegler said the relationship thawed as both matured. She described getting close to tate mcrae again around the ages of 16 and 17 and spending time together in Los Angeles. “I love her so much, and she’s killing it, ” Ziegler told Jake Shane, reflecting on how early competitiveness gave way to mutual support.
What do other figures from the dance world say?
Abby Lee Miller, 60, dance instructor and choreographer who trained many of the Dance Moms girls, offered a blunt, personal take after running into tate mcrae at a Los Angeles restaurant. “I don’t know her that well, I just know her [enough] to say ‘hello, ‘” Miller said, adding, “She didn’t even look at me. She had her nose in the air. ” Miller also acknowledged tate mcrae’s technical skill, praising the way she integrates dance into performances: “I think that it’s great that she can whack her leg up there while she’s [singing]. It shows that you have to do everything. You have to be a triple threat — she’ll be acting next, probably. ” These comments underline how early rivalry sits alongside professional appraisal in the dance community.
What does this story tell us about competitive dance?
The arc from a stinging defeat at a major award, to the awkwardness of judging a former rival, to renewed friendship offers a compact portrait of careers that begin in competition and evolve into collaboration. For Ziegler and tate mcrae, public contests and televised moments became part of a personal history that neither could entirely leave behind. Their story highlights how early defeats and public platforms shape personal and professional trajectories in performance careers.
Back on the podcast couch where she first revisited the loss, Maddie Ziegler’s recollection of that childhood afternoon now reads less like a grievance and more like a hinge: one moment that turned two young competitors into peers who would, years later, spend time together in Los Angeles and trade the intensity of rivalry for a more complicated, human connection.
