Maddie Ziegler Bio: Age, Height, Career, Net Worth (2026)

Maddie Ziegler went from a Pittsburgh dance studio to global fame — and she did it before she could legally drive. Millions know her as the tiny dancer twirling through Sia’s “Chandelier,” but there’s a lot more to her story than one music video. She’s now an actress, author, model, and one of the most recognizable performers to come out of reality TV.

This guide covers everything people search for about Maddie Ziegler: her age, height, education, family, career, boyfriend, and current net worth — all verified and updated for 2026.

Quick Facts About Maddie Ziegler

Who Is Maddie Ziegler?

Maddie Ziegler is an American dancer and actress best known for her breakout years on the Lifetime reality series Dance Moms and her string of unforgettable music videos with singer Sia. She first captured the world’s attention at just 11 years old, dancing through Sia’s “Chandelier” in a blonde bob wig and a nude leotard, and that single performance turned her into an overnight sensation.

Since then, Maddie has built a career that goes far beyond dance. She’s acted alongside major names in Hollywood, written a bestselling memoir, launched fashion and beauty collaborations, and continues to land new film roles well into her twenties. She’s proof that a childhood spent in dance class can turn into a lifelong career in entertainment.

Maddie Ziegler Age and Early Life

Maddie Ziegler was born on September 30, 2002, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, making her 23 years old as of 2026. She’s a Libra, which fans online like to point out fits her artistic, expressive personality.

She started dancing almost as soon as she could walk. At age two, she began taking ballet lessons, and by four years old she had already joined the Abby Lee Dance Company, the studio famously run by Abby Lee Miller. There, she trained across nearly every style of dance — tap, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, acro, and jazz — and started winning regional and national dance titles before most kids her age had learned to tie their shoes.

That early, intense training is really the foundation of everything that came later. Long before “Chandelier” made her famous, Maddie was already one of the most talked-about young dancers on the competition circuit.

Maddie Ziegler’s Family

Maddie was born to Kurt Ziegler, who ran a mortgage company, and Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni. Her parents divorced in 2011, when Maddie was still a child, and her mother later remarried Greg Gisoni in 2013. Greg works as a vice president at Westinghouse Electric Company.

Maddie’s family is bigger than most people realize. Her siblings include:

• Mackenzie Ziegler — her younger sister, and a singer, actress, and fellow Dance Moms cast member who became a star in her own right.
• Ryan and Tyler Ziegler — her two older half-brothers from her father’s earlier marriage.
• Michele and Mathew Gisoni — her two older step-siblings from her stepfather Greg’s previous marriage.

Maddie has Polish, German, and Italian roots, and she and Mackenzie remain close both personally and professionally — the two sisters have toured together, collaborated on fashion lines, and supported each other’s separate careers for over a decade.

Maddie Ziegler’s Education

Because her dance and filming schedule became so demanding at a young age, Maddie’s education looked very different from a typical American kid’s. She attended Sloan Elementary School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, but left in 2013, around age 10, to be homeschooled full-time.

Homeschooling let her keep up with schoolwork while traveling for competitions, music video shoots, and eventually TV and film projects. It’s a common path for young performers, but Maddie has talked openly about the trade-offs — missing out on some of the typical childhood and teenage school experiences while gaining an entirely different kind of education on set and on stage.

Maddie Ziegler Height and Physical Appearance

Maddie Ziegler stands at 5 feet 5 inches (165 cm) tall. Her dancer’s build — lean, strong, and flexible — comes from more than two decades of near-constant training, and it’s a big part of what makes her movement so distinctive on camera. She has blonde hair and is often noted for her expressive face, which choreographers and directors alike have pointed to as one of her biggest strengths as a performer: she doesn’t just hit the steps, she acts through them.

Maddie Ziegler’s Career

Maddie’s career can really be broken into several distinct chapters, each one building on the last.

Dance Moms and the Abby Lee Dance Company

Maddie’s national breakthrough came in 2011, when she joined the first season of Lifetime’s Dance Moms at just eight years old. The show followed the young dancers of the Abby Lee Dance Company Elite Competition Team, along with their mothers, as they competed — and clashed — under the direction of coach Abby Lee Miller. Maddie quickly stood out as the most technically polished and emotionally expressive dancer on the show, staying on for six seasons until 2016.

Sia and “Chandelier”

In 2014, everything changed. Singer Sia cast 11-year-old Maddie in the music video for “Chandelier,” and the result became a cultural phenomenon. The video won an ARIA Award for Best Video, took home Best Choreography at the MTV Video Music Awards, and was even nominated for a Grammy. It has since racked up well over 2 billion views on YouTube.

That partnership didn’t stop with one video. Maddie went on to star in several more Sia videos, including “Elastic Heart” (alongside actor Shia LaBeouf), “Big Girls Cry,” “Cheap Thrills,” “The Greatest,” “Thunderclouds,” “No New Friends,” and “Together.” She also joined Sia’s Nostalgic for the Present Tour across North America and Australia, performing live in front of thousands of fans.

Acting Career

Maddie transitioned into acting alongside her dance work, and her filmography has grown steadily impressive:

• The Book of Henry (2017) — her live-action feature film debut
• Leap! (Ballerina, 2016) — voice role as Camille
• Music (2021) — starring role in Sia’s directorial debut
• The Fallout (2021) — a critically praised performance that premiered at South by Southwest
• West Side Story (2021) — playing Velma in Steven Spielberg’s remake
• Fitting In (2023)
• My Old Ass (2024) — which earned her a Variety Breakthrough Award at Sundance
• Pretty Lethal (2026) — playing “Bones,” a role that earned her a Critics’ Choice Super Award nomination for Best Actress in an Action Movie
• In a Holidaze (upcoming, 2026) — based on the novel by Christina Lauren

She’s also appeared on shows like The Voice, Saturday Night Live, Dancing with the Stars, and served as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation.

Modeling and Fashion

Off screen, Maddie has modeled for brands including Capezio, Target, Ralph Lauren, and Tiffany & Co., and has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Teen Vogue. She and Mackenzie launched The Maddie & Mackenzie Collection in 2014, and Maddie later started her own line, MaddieStyle, in 2016. In 2023, the sisters teamed up again for a back-to-school collection with American Eagle.

Writing

In 2017, Maddie released her memoir, The Maddie Diaries, which became a New York Times Best Seller. She followed it up with a trilogy of middle-grade novels — The Audition, The Callback, and The Competition — centered on a young competitive dancer navigating a new school and a new team.

Awards and Recognition

Maddie’s list of honors reflects just how far her career has traveled:

• Named to Time magazine’s “30 Most Influential Teens” list every year from 2015 to 2017
• Won the 2016 People’s Choice Award and Teen Choice Awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018
• Included on the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Hollywood & Entertainment category
• Received a Variety and Golden Globe Breakthrough Artist honor for My Old Ass (2024)
• Nominated for a 2026 Critics’ Choice Super Award for Pretty Lethal

Maddie Ziegler Boyfriend and Relationship History

Maddie’s relationship history has followed her from her teenage years into adulthood. From early 2017 to mid-2018, she dated Australian Instagram personality Jack Kelly, the son of former New York Yankees infielder Pat Kelly. She then began a long-term relationship with singer-songwriter Eddie Benjamin, which lasted from 2019 until early 2023.

As of 2026, Maddie is in a relationship with music producer Kid Culture, whose real name is Daniel Hackett. He’s known in the industry for producing tracks for major artists, including Justin Bieber’s “Yummy.” The couple went public in mid-2024, and they’ve continued to share glimpses of their relationship on social media since.

Maddie Ziegler Net Worth (2026)

Maddie Ziegler’s net worth is commonly estimated at around $5 million, though some more recent 2026 estimates put the figure closer to $6–7 million once her ongoing film work, endorsements, and fashion collaborations are factored in. Because celebrity net worth is never officially disclosed, these numbers are always estimates rather than confirmed figures — but $5 million remains the most consistently cited baseline across financial and entertainment outlets.

Her income comes from a genuinely diverse set of sources:

• Acting roles in film and television
• Brand endorsements and modeling contracts
• Book royalties from The Maddie Diaries and her novel trilogy
• Fashion collaborations and her own clothing lines
• Sponsored content and partnerships on social media

That range is part of what makes her financial story interesting — she isn’t dependent on one industry the way a lot of former child stars are. Dance, acting, writing, and fashion all contribute.

Social Media and Public Life

Maddie has a substantial social media following, with more than 13 million followers on Instagram, over a million on X (formerly Twitter), and millions more across Facebook and YouTube. She uses these platforms to share updates on her film work, fashion partnerships, and personal life.

She’s also been active in charitable work throughout her career, partnering with organizations like the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Dancers Against Cancer, and the ASPCA, often using her platform and her dancing to help raise funds and awareness for causes involving children’s health and animal welfare.

FAQs About Maddie Ziegler

Final Thoughts

Maddie Ziegler’s journey — from a dance studio in Pennsylvania to music videos with Sia to leading roles in major films — is a genuine rarity in entertainment. Most performers who become famous as children don’t manage to build a lasting, expanding career as adults, but Maddie has done exactly that, adding acting, writing, and fashion to her original identity as a dancer. With new film roles already lined up for the rest of 2026, it’s clear her story is still being written.