>> jimmy: oh, what a night, what a night. thanks to john mulaney, gary clark jr., stevie wonder. apologies to matt damon. we ran out of time for him. "nightline" is next. thank you for watching, goodnight. this is "nightline." >> tonight, abby lee miller. >> you're 16 and everybody's watching you cry. save your tears. >> a rare interview with the controversial star of "dance moms" and what she said justifies her tough love delivery. >> i have made the world a better place for children. >> some of the stars remember things differently. >> why does she mate me so much? >> do you ever feel like you crossed the line? plus, wend it like wrexham. what happens when a hollywood heartthrob and his comedy actor

friend decide to buy a soccer team? >> i got a call from rob saying, "how would you like to partner up in this financially stupid but emotionally immersive project?" >> ryan reynolds and rob mcelhinney infusing the struggling wrexham fc with heart and hard work. >> we're back. >> it's rocky metamorphosis trapped in "welcome to wrexham." how two guys with exactly no experience took the club from underdog to cinderella story. and the profession the president says gives america hope about the future honored tonight at the white house.

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♪ good evening. i'm phil lipof. abby lee miller says she's ready to be back in the spotlight. the former "dance moms" star has been both celebrated and denounced for her strict disciplinary approach to training young dancers. she served time in prison for tax evasion and battled cancer. can abby lee's comeback be greater than her setbacks? here's "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> hello, everybody. right here, make a circle. hurry up! music, go ahead.

five, six, seven, and lift -- forward, go -- >> juju: abby lee miller still knows how to command a room. >> now we're down to the chosen few. here we go. good-bye. good-bye. good-bye. going to let you go. 478, you're done. 276, you're done -- >> juju: now 58, the disgraced former star of "dance moms," the reality show that seemed to pit stage moms against each other and abby. >> whore! >> juju: abby became a cultural phenomenon. now she's trying to make a comeback. abby's changed in so many ways. surviving a stint in prison followed by a cancer battle that left her in a wheelchair. but in other ways, she's exactly the same. >> ding dong, look! one, two, three, four, five, six, seven -- eight would be the second! >> juju: do you ever feel like you crossed the line? >> sure, sometimes.

it was what was called for in the moment. >> reporter: 13 years after "dance moms" burst onto the scene, the obsession remains. the girls are more famous than ever with tens of millions of followers on social media. abby herself, the ultimate meme. >> this poor daughter has no stability! >> juju: there's a whole new generation re-watching and re-examining "dance moms" through a modern lens. >> you were 25 minutes late to the bust your bomb competition! >> juju: often shocked. >> a lot of things don't fly in 2024. >> juju: her former students, now adults looking back at time spent under abby's rule. >> i just was doing everything i could to make my dance teacher like me. why is this not working? why does she hate me so much? >> the name of your routine is "trouble." you're in trouble today. >> the environment was very much about putting us down. >> we went through some drama

together, and we survived it. >> you and i both know that lazy gets you nowhere. >> reporter: their opinion of abby, even years later, is complicated. >> abby bred winners. her dance studio was very, very good. she has so many dancers on broadway, so many dancers in movies. and when it comes down to the way she treated us, it was tough love. >> i know when i go to sleep at night that i have done my job. and i have made the world a better place for children. and those kids that you're talking about, that tough love, they're doing great. >> juju: the woman at the center of it all in a rare interview speaking out. what do you think is the biggest misconception about you? >> if they were really devoted, they probably saw it. if they just watched a little here and there, they thought i was this awful, horrible, heavy ogre being mean to these little girls. why in god's name would you an dance teach fer you didn't live children? >> juju: any regrets? >> always. i regret signing the contract,

that's the biggest pun. >> juju: premiering on lifetime in 2011, "dance moms" sashayed onto our screens and became appointment television. abby miller known for harsh one-liners at the helm. >> you're 16 years old. everybody's watching you cry. save your tears for the pillow. i don't care if they like me or not, they're fabulous, and they have a better life than they had in a little town called penn hills in pittsburgh. >> juju: the show debuted with seven dancers ages 6 to 13 and their moms were there for it. divas in their own right. their clashes with abby, legendary. >> i've been here all day! making costumes for you! while you were down the road eating! stop eating. that's why you're fat! >> juju: the girls competed in every style of dance, from lyrical -- ♪ oh how good it feels to be ♪ >> juju: to jazz -- ♪

>> juju: chloe lou years old when "dance moms" premiered. paige highland was 10. older sister brooke was 15. >> hi! >> so tan. >> at the beach. >> yes. >> i think that our previous dance teacher creates really strong dancers, really beautiful dancers. in any competitive sport, you're going to have people who will push you really hard so you can reach the potential that they can see in you. i think there's a way you can do that in a kinder way than what we experienced. >> there's a delicate balance between wanting to push a kid in a way that brings out the best in them, and then using tactics like shame, fear, humiliation, to bring out something out of them. >> juju: when you look back out,

what stands out in your mind as being the trauma that you lived through? >> i was having panic attacks on the show. >> i can't breathe. >> juju: do you remember what brought on the panic attacks? >> the pressure. i think my dance teacher not liking me -- i think mentally i realized, this isn't for the cameras, she actually is out to get me. i was having panic attacks just being in the room with her. just got very difficult mentally. >> juju: you have trouble saying her name? >> yeah, i have trouble just talking about it in general. >> juju: at the height of her fame, abby's career tack took a tumble. october 2015, she was indicted on bankruptcy fraud charges. her legal drama playing out for all of america to see in season six and seven of the show. >> the court and the judge, they think i'm hiding money. so it doesn't show up anywhere. that's bull [ bleep ]. >> juju: after initially

proclaiming her innocence, abby ultimately pled guilty to concealing income she earned after file fog bankruptcy, sentenced to a year in prison and served eight months. to this day, abby denies she knowingly did anything wrong. then in 2018, shortly after leaving prison, she began experiencing pain and went to the doctor. >> i had lost 127 pounds. in prison i read 150 books. and i exercised every day. i was in the best shape of my life. so when i walked in she was like, "oh my god, you look fabulous, what's going on?" i said, "i have this pain in my head, in the back of my neck, it's killing me." >> juju: she was diagnosed with burkett lymphoma, a rare, aggressive form of cancer. she says now she's cancer-free but she can't easily walk on her own because a tumor caused damage to her spine. what's it like teaching dance from a chair? >> i kind of always sat on my ass, so i'm pretty good.

>> juju: despite her dramatic fall from grace and all the detractors, a few minutes with abby is still in high demand. >> i like big hair. the bigger the hair, the smaller the ass, right? the bigger the hair, the closer to god. i have a big day today with 170 kids, 100 mothers observing, watching me, and then i have a q&a for children that don't dance, that are just fans of the show, that want to meet me a all that. so the hair has to stay, you know? >> juju: today she's prepping for a dance workshop, one of the hundreds of master classes she teaches across the country, promoting them to her millions of followers on social media.

at the studio, an army of young girls eager to impress. >> look at me. you, parallel turquoise top, parallel. >> juju: abby holding court and coaching with her signature style. >> parents! if you own one of the kids out there that's not in a split, what's wrong? maybe they just came today to see me and have fun, and that's great. maybe they're lazy. purple, you might want to know your right from your left. you're on the wrong leg, honey. >> juju: for the girls who know what it's like to be under abby's watchful eye, looking back isn't always easy. what would you say to your preteen selves? >> give her a hug. >> yeah, i would say, everything's going to be okay. >> looking at us now, we all made it out. we're all successful, grounded people. just know it's going to be okay.

>> i think i really did love dance in the beginning. then i came to hate it because at that moment, it represented everything hard in life. so i needed to take a break. and now i'm -- like every once in a while, i'll dip my toe in the water. maybe one day i'll go back to it. >> phil: our thanks to juju. the full episode of "impact by nightline: "dance moms, behind the curtain" now streaming on hulu. when we return, two hollywood stars with no sports experience buy a struggling welsh soccer team and the redemption story is television gold. if you're living with hiv, imagine being good to go without daily hiv pills. good to go off the grid. good to go nonstop. with cabenuva, there's no pausing for daily hiv pills. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting

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♪ >> phil: welcome back. ryan reynold is is a bone 92 guide marvel superhero, headlining the "deadpool" franchise and starring in huge hollywood action movies. maybe that's why the idea of buying a struggling soccer team didn't seem daunting. not only did reynolds and his friend buy the team, they gave it a second chance. here's abc's rhiannon ally. >> i have to ask, first of all, are we calling it soccer? or football? >> we say football. we generally are just using feet in this sport. but then american football, you're not really using feet that much. >> reporter: it's an underdog story made for tv, literally. wrexham afc, the beloved and historic uk soccer team, now on a spectacular rise. >> unbelievable for wrexham.

>> reporter: after a longtime losing streak, the club scooped up by celebrity backers ryan reynolds and ryan mcelhinney in 2021. >> if i were going to go bankrupt with anybody on earth, it would be rob. >> we're well on our way. >> reporter: the dual ownership, a reversal of fortunes for the team both on and off the field, documented in the critically acclaimed tv show," welcome to wrexham" back for its third season on fx, streaming on hulu. >> i wake up, i think we've been taken over by two hollywood superstars. >> i love building things and growing things and telling stories. but nothing occupies the space in my mind, heart, and soul more than wrexham. >> reporter: actor ryan reynolds has been telling stories for over 30 years. from starring in "the proposal" -- >> oh my god, what is that? >> it's the morning. >> reporter: to portraying the sarcastic superhero deadpool. >> did i leave the stove on? >> reporter: as a businessman

for ventures like mint mobile. reynolds joining forces with fellow funny guy, writer and actor rob mcelhenney of "it's always sunny in philadelphia." >> are you ready? bam. >> i reached out to rob, i dm'd him. i got a call from rob a year later. "how would you like to partner up in this extremely outside the box, risky, financially stupid but emotionally immersive project?" >> i had this idea for the football team. i thought, wow. there was very few people that i know who are as entrepreneurial as ryan, who i believe i could get along with, yet we each brought something different to the table. >> reporter: slid into the dms, taking your shot, a modern-day love story. >> it really is. >> reporter: from inbox to goalie box, the idea taking them to a small town in wales. why wrexham? how did you find them? what drew you? >> we wanted a town that we could identify with. for me, the community i grew up

in in philadelphia and for ryan, he grew up in a very blue-collar, working-class family and background. we knew we wanted to find people who we knew, or felt we knew. it sort of checked every box. >> reporter: checking every box. but first, they say, they had to earn the town's trust. >> it's just a footballing town. it's hard to describe if you're not from here, i guess. >> they welcomed us with a healthy sense of skepticism, which we expected, but not cynicism, which we really respected. it's the way we've always approached wrexham. let's go in and listen before we talk. let's try to understand what the community wants, what the club wants. let's give them the resources and the exposure to get that. >> reporter: wrexham afc has been around over 150 years. the third-oldest soccer team on earth. >> my family watch wrexham. my family before that watched wrexham. that's how it's always been. >> reporter: in recent decades, the men's team losing their way to their lowest-ever ranking in

the 2019-2020 season. in late 2020, reynolds and mcelhinney's purchase of the club bringing in much-needed cash and hollywood flash. the emmy-winning "welcome to wrexham" now documenting the dreams and dramas of this working-class city's team. >> our star player wound up in the emergency room. >> reporter: was it difficult to let these cameras in, to let them see not only the highs but the lows as well? >> i struggled with it a little bit, yeah. at the beginning. >> when we sat down to look at documentary footage, there's been so many times i see myself and i'm humiliated by the way i acted in a particular moment. i realize, that has to go in. because it happened. it's real life. >> reporter: wrexham now winning more than they have in two decades. >> it's easy to focus on the wins in life. but it's really important to make sure that kids also see that you lose. that loss today, that extends

that feeling of authenticity. >> reporter: the show and its soccer stars captivating audiences around the world, drawing parallels to the hit scripted show "ted lasso." >> now i know at least one thing about football. >> reporter: even earning the town a visit from king charles and queen camilla. >> if this club does well, the town will do well. the two are inextricably linked. >> reporter: what does this community mean to you after three years? how have they embraced you? >> i've had to start changing my sheets, my bedsheets, more often. because i sweat at night, okay? i'm having a physiological reaction to this, wanting so badly to deliver what we've promised this town. what they've done for us is welcome us into their community. i hope that we've delivered on each one of our promises. and each time we do that, we get a little bit more welcome in the

community, and i sweat a little bit less. >> one of the kindest things anybody's ever said was that we were honorary welshmen. wales has really captured a huge piece must have heart. to be considered part of that group and the community on some level, any level, means more to me than anything, any of it. >> phil: our thanks to rhiannon. when we come back, they came from all over the country. the profession honored tonight at the white house. to severe s or crohn's disease... put it in check with rinvoq... a once—daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief... and reduced fatigue with rinvoq. check. when flares kept trying to slow me down... i got lasting steroid—free remission... with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage,... rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. for both uc and crohn's: rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid—free remission... and visibly reduced damage.

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♪ >> phil: finally tonight, the teachers of the year at the white house.

>> you all are the reason why we have hope about the future. >> phil: the first-ever state dinner to honor educators. teacher of the year missy testerman calling teaching pivotal. >> we make democracy possible. both by educating the generation in front of us, but we also make all professions, every single one of them, possible. >> phil: more than 50 others also honored. more with those educators on "gma." for now, that's "nightline." you can watch full episodes on hu hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.