The season 4 altercation led to Paige and Brooke Hyland leaving Abby Lee Miller's dance studio and the show.
As the cast of the hit Lifetime series Dance Moms reunite for a new special, Dance Moms: The Reunion, many of the dancers are being forced to relive some painful and even traumatizing moments in the show's history and even their own lives.
One such instance happened on season 4 of the series, which followed intense instructor Abby Lee Miller and her studio of dancers.
On the show at a New York competition, Abby got into a verbal altercation that turned physical with Kelly Hyland, the mother of two of her dancers -- Paige and Brooke Hyland.
The situation, in which Kelly famously shouted, "You're eating my face!" as Abby came toward her pretending to chomp, led to Kelly hitting Abby across the face and pulling Abby's hair on camera. Abby then called the police to press charges against Kelly. This moment led to the end of sisters Paige and Brooke's time in Abby's studio and on the show.
"I think we both wanted to get off the show, so I think we feel bad that our mom is holding that guilt," Paige tells ET's Rachel Smith of the idea that Kelly blames herself for the end of her daughters' time in the spotlight.
"Actually, it's like we want to thank her," Brooke adds.
"We look at her as an amazing mom who was fighting to do what we wanted," Paige continues.
The sisters also reflect on that moment following them throughout their lives beyond the show.
"It's hard. It's become a TikTok trend," Brooke says. "People are using that sound from the fight. We scroll past. I've reenacted it. Kind of just laugh it off. But the reunion was the first time we've sat there and gone, 'Wow, this happened.' And it was my mom and my dance teacher who was a very important person in my life. It was really hard."
The arrival of fellow dancer Kalani Hilliker, who was just 12 when the incident happened, sparked the fight between the two women as the topic of Kalani replacing Brooke was being discussed when the fight broke out.
"We've known each other and we've been friends, but we never bring that up, the details of it all," Kalani tells ET of herself and the Hyland sisters. "So I think it was good for us to be able to sit down and talk about it and just hear both sides of the story… It's traumatizing for everybody in that situation."
In addition to Paige, Brooke, and Kalani, the reunion also features Dance Moms alums JoJo Siwa, Chloe Lukasiak, and Kendall Vertes. Co-stars Maddie Ziegler and Mackenzie Ziegler as well as Nia Sioux opted out of the reunion.
During a previously released clip from the reunion, Siwa defended Miller.
"This is going to be a little controversial to say, I think," Siwa began, cautiously, "but, to me, Abby was always right."
Miller would often clash with the young dancers -- and even more so with their mothers -- over her abrasive and demanding behavior toward her students. It led to many feuds between Miller and the other stars of the show -- but Siwa says that, despite everything, it was ultimately beneficial in her experience.
"One thing that I've learned really working, like, insane, in Hollywood is that that's normal," Siwa added. "And it's scary that that's normal, but that taught me how to survive in the industry. It truly is so tough."
Dance Moms: The Reunion airs Wednesday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
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