Abby's Latest Relationship Was Just Confusing

Stage moms and the people who mold their children into performing wunderkinds might be enticing to watch (or devastating depending on your outlook), but what about the people behind the scenes who mold those tiny bursts of talent into creative pros? Whether you love her or hate her, there's no denying that despite the name, the real star of Lifetime's Dance Moms is Abby Lee Miller, the instructor behind the Pittsburgh dance academy. Even if the show isn't named after her, the terrifying star-maker is the one who takes young dance and showbiz hopefuls and turns them into real scene stealers.

Now in its fourth season, the show highlights Miller molding her kids into some pretty impressive talents, despite some drama and bickering from the moms. Tearing down mother and child alike, she's waged a legal battle against one of her moms, and told a pint sized dancer in her charge to "suck it up" all in the pursuit of training some world-class dancers.There is no doubt that Miller is a force to be reckoned with, but what about the woman behind the madness? Training dancers is a full-time job, but who does she go home to when the glitz and glamour of the dance fades?

That's a bit of a loaded question. On The Wendy Williams Show, Miller seemed to hint at an engagement when pressed, though there is a lot more to the story. Towards the end of the interview, Williams asked Miller about her love life, with the Dance Moms star erratically jumping from talk of rings to hot men in her life. Enter Michael Padula, who Miller posed with on Instagram with something looking suspiciously like a wedding ring gracing her finger and the caption "I do!!" Starcasm reports that Padula is an executive at A&E, which owns Lifetime, and a dancer himself, and points out that at the end of her Williams interview, Miller also mentions her ailing mother who recently passed, hinting that the rushed pairing might have just been for her mother's benefit, though she admittedly ends the interview with the cliffhanger phrase "I can't say."

Later on The Juice, Miller revealed that the engagement was indeed a sham, done to comfort her mother in her last days and assure her that her daughter would have somebody by her side. I'm glad to hear that Miller is admitting to what was ultimately a sweet gesture. Post "engagement" announcement, internet sleuths were hell-bent on uncovering clues that the engagement was just a stunt, and wondered if Padula might be gay.

Padula is a noted figure in Los Angeles' LGBT scene, including being a fixture in the gay ballroom dancing world. Even the Moms on her show were questioning how sincere Miller's engagement was, although they wondered if she was the one being tricked, versus the reality, which was Miller pulling the wool over everyone else. In the Season 3 episode "All's Fair in Love and War" the Moms actually posed a sincere question, asking "why would you be excited to be engaged to a gay man?" after an attempt to take Miller speed dating.

Alas, the reality isn't as sinister as the moms imagined, and it's nice to know Miller is in on the gag. It's also sort of sweet that Miller's mother, who passed earlier this year, could rest easy knowing the independent daughter she raised had someone to confide in and depend on at the end of the day. Here's to the dance diva not letting other people decide what her life should look like or bring down whatever she does. Now if she could only throw the kids a bone once in a while...

Image: therealabbylee/Instagram