Chloe Lukasiak
"Dance Moms" stars Chloe Lukasiak (L) and Kendall Vertes. "Dance Moms" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on Lifetime. Lifetime/Dance Moms

UPDATE 9/24/14 11:40:00 a.m.: Francisco Thurston reconfirmed the rumors of Abby Lee Miller's alleged campaign against Chloe Lukasiak's win on the Sept. 23 episode of "Dance Moms." Read more here.

Original story:

“Dance Moms” fans come out in droves to congratulate ALDC dancer Chloe Lukasiak on placing first on the Lifetime series' midseason finale competition Tuesday, but according to new speculation, the young performer almost walked away without the win.

In an appearance on AfterBuzz’s TV podcast, co-host Francisco Thurston, a professional dancer and attendee to the Feb. 15-16 competition featured on the midseason finale Tuesday, said he saw some backstage drama that didn’t make it to airwaves. According to Thurston, “Dance Moms” star coach Abby Lee Miller, 47, allegedly tried to sabotage the 12-year-old dancer’s competition win in favor of a member of her new team, and Chloe’s direct competition, dancer Kamryn Beck.

“After Chloe won, Abby pulled the judges into a production room because she completely disagreed with their decision that Chloe won. She was not having it,” said Thurston, who confirmed that Chloe and Kamryn each placed first in their individual age divisions but that Chloe won the award for first overall. “Chloe beat her by a couple of points. Kamryn got beat,” he said.

According to Thurston, Miller told the judges that Chloe did not deserve to win because she had not spent enough time in her Pittsburgh, Penn.-based dance studio. “She pulled the judges into the room and gave this long sob story about how Chloe has fans and Instagram fans and she’s never in class and this is why she doesn’t deserve to win,” said Thurston, who claims the show’s judges sided with the young performer over the tyrannical coach.

“One of the judges was like, ‘I don’t watch Dance Moms. I don’t care how many Instagram fans she has, I judged her on her dancing.’ And the rest of the judges followed,” said Thurston.

Despite Miller’s upset, the co-host, who watched the winning performance “Lucky Star" from the Youngston, Ohio-based competition's sidelines, claims that Chloe deserved recognition. “You just felt like Chloe was fighting for something. She knew everything was on the line. You could feel like her passion coming out of her,” he said. “I was moved by Chloe. She looked amazing. She was perfect. Not a technical error. She was spot-on.”

Miller has yet to respond to reports of her alleged sabotage.

The “Dance Moms” mideason 4 reunion “Seeing Red” airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT on Lifetime. The kids reunion special, “Dance Moms: No Moms Allowed,” will air April 29.

Miller’s new series, “Abby’s Studio Rescue,” will premiere on Lifetime June 17.