Over the past couple of days, Dance Mom dancers and their mothers posted tearful messages, tweets, and Instagram posts, insinuating that the finale of Season 7B might actually be the end of the show altogether. But fans were overjoyed to discover that the show isn’t over yet, and the drama will continue with or without Abby Lee Miller on board.

Yesterday, the executive producer of Dance Moms, Bryan Stinson, confirmed the show would be returning with a simple Tweet.

He wrote, “That’s a wrap on season 7. 208 hours of Dance Moms programming. Season 7 was heaven. Season 8 will be gr8t #DanceMoms.”

That's a wrap on season 7. 208 hours of Dance Moms programming. Season 7 was heaven. Season 8 will be gr8t #DanceMoms — Bryan Stinson (@BryanStinson) April 16, 2017

After the sudden departure of Abby Lee Miller from the Dance Moms set, some suspected that the continuation of the show would only be temporary and likely only because they were under contract to do so. When Miller made her exit, slamming the virtual door behind her with a caustic Instagram post, the girls’ mentorship was taken over by Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke. Since it was already near the end of the season’s filming, many assumed the show would simply finish out with Cheryl and the girls would take their final Dance Moms bow.

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Nia Sioux Frazier, the only Dance Moms student to stick with the show continuously from Season 1 to present, must be incredibly happy over the news that the show is returning. She posted Snapchats this weekend featuring the girls crying and a drawing on the white board in their dressing room stating “We’re Irreplaceable.” This is a play on Abby Lee Miller’s continuously telling the girls that, “Everyone is replaceable.”

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Rumors that the show was ending were also fuelled by Kalani Hilliker’s mother, Kira Girard. The spitfire mother posted on Twitter that the memories she had made were unforgettable. Fans desperately asked Girard if this meant that Dance Moms was ending, but she did not respond.

Also feeding the rumor was Christi Lukasiak, mother of Chloe Lukasiak, the fan favorite who took a hiatus from the show for three years before coming back to compete with her old friends. She wrote a heartfelt message about her time on the show, which seemed to imply that it would not be returning.

“April 9, 2011/April 15, 2017. I’ve watched this young woman grow up before my very eyes and I had the experience of a lifetime. No one will ever understand how things really happened except the people who lived it, so I am so grateful for everyone who I got to share this with: cast, crew, and family. And for all of you out there who I have never met, but you root for these girls like their your own, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Just a mom of two beautiful blondes, from Pittsburgh,” she wrote.

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While it looks like all of the tears and sadness was for naught, does this mean that some of the girls from Dance Moms won’t be returning next season and the team will, again, undergo changes?

The Dance Moms team, or Abby Lee Dance Company’s (ALDC) Elite team, has been a revolving door over the past couple of years. Abby Lee Miller has spent time auditioning girls for the team, only to dismiss them if they didn’t bring home a win, leaving many of them distraught and depressed. However, Abby has claimed in the past that the Dance Moms producers are in charge of these switches and that she often wants the girls to continue on the team.

However, it does look like the show will be continuing without Abby, proving that in the world of Dance Moms, even the boss is replaceable.

[Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]