EXCLUSIVE: Maddie Ziegler Explains Why She Wrote 'The Maddie Diaries': 'I Want People to Know the Real Me'

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ET has your first look at the 14-year-old dancer's new audiobook.

Maddie Ziegler says she's "just a regular teenager" in her new audiobook, The Maddie Diaries.

Released earlier this week, the memoir details the former Dance Moms star's life in the spotlight.


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"I feel like a lot of people know me but there's a lot of things that they haven't learned yet," she says of her reason to share her personal story. "So, I'm here to teach them tips and tricks and a little bit more about my life."

"People think they know everything about me from Dance Moms or my Sia [music] videos, and I guess I understand how they might feel that way," she writes in her book. "I mean, I was completely hooked on Gossip Girl, and I felt like I knew all of the characters on that show personally. We were family."

"I cried when I watched the last episode on Netflix, because I truly felt like I was a part of their lives, and I didn't want it to be over," she continues. "Then I was shocked, I mean shocked, when I saw Ed Westwick, aka Chuck Bass, presenting at the People's Choice Awards and he started speaking with a British accent. I looked over at my mom, 'What is going on? Why is he talking like Harry Potter?'"


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"I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was someone other than his character," she continues. "A real person that just happened to be from England. Who knew? Then as I listened to him I realized I loved him even more when he was being truly himself. I've always thought British accents were cute."

That's why Ziegler says she "gets" why it's easy for others to make assumptions based on what they see, hear or read.

"I may be only 14, but there are so many things I love and care about, and so many other sides of who I am," she adds. "I want people to know the real me. The silly stuff, the serious stuff, and everything in between."

Hear the full excerpt below:


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As for why she decided to record an audio book? Ziegler says she thought it would be "really fun."

"I love that I get to personalize it myself and everything comes from my heart," she explains. "Recording an audiobook is definitely a lot different than what I do in my everyday life because I'm usually on camera, but this time, I'm just talking to a mic and not even being visible. I think it will be really awesome to have people actually listen to my voice and have it come from me because I want them to really know how I felt as I was writing this book."

"I hope the message that my fans really understand is that I'm a lot like them too," she adds. "Even though I might be in the public eye a lot, I am just a regular teenager like everyone else and go through the struggles everyone else does."


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