Possibly one of the cutest friendships in showbiz, Sia and Maddie Ziegler have made for an iconic duo ever since the latter appeared in the video for 2014's Chandelier. Now the teen dance prodigy has opened up about just how special their relationship is, because Sia is officially her godmother.
Maddie Ziegler at the MTV VMAs 2018 / Photo Credit: NYKC/Famous
Maddie, 16, appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week to talk about her new novel The Callback - among other things - which is the follow-up to 2017's The Audition. However, the young starlet couldn't help but gush about her second mom Sia for most of the interview.
She describes the 43-year-old Grammy-nominated superstar as "the best person in [her] life", who has officially been named her godmother.
"If anything were to happen, she would take me in which is really cool", Maddie revealed. "The day we met we clicked and we knew that it was a special connection. She's taught me so many life lessons and I'll never forget that."
The pair regularly go out to restaurants and the movies together, with Maddie often being more recognised than Sia. In fact, Sia has been mistaken for Maddie's mother on occasion.
"We went to a movie theatre one time and a girl came up and said, 'Maddie, do you mind if your mom takes the photo?'" She recalled. "It's just funny because I will get recognised but she's on a different level and people just think she's like my mom which is hilarious because if only you knew!"
If you didn't know that the pair weren't mother and daughter, you'd certainly be forgiven for thinking so. Maddie rocked up to The Tonight Show in Sia's actual bridal shower dress from her wedding to Erik Anders Lang, because, since Sia doesn't have a daughter of her own, she wanted to dress her up like the spiritual Dance Mom she is.
"She's always wanted to dress up her daughter and put her in cool clothes and this fit like a glove", said Maddie. "I've never seen her turn into a stage mom like that before... That was her Dance Moms moment."
The thing that really makes us wish we had our own Sia-mom, though, was the fact that the singer bought Maddie her first car when she turned 16 last year. She actually rocked up to the dancer's house in a white Audi as a surprise. It's no wonder then that Maddie has spent more time living with Sia than her real family in recent months.
But how did this beautiful relationship come about in the first place?
Maddie Ziegler shot to fame when she was just 8-years-old after appearing on the reality show Dance Moms. The show followed a group of young performers from the Abby Lee Dance Company Elite Competition Team and the tense relationships between the mothers.
"[Sia] watched the show religiously and then she Tweeted me and was like 'I want you in my music video'", she explained. "At the time I didn't really know who she was but then we did the video and I didn't expect the outcome."
Maddie was 11 when she appeared in the video for Chandelier, immediately gripping audiences with her dynamic and unique style of expressive dance. Since then she has appeared in seven other of her videos including Elastic Heart and Big Girls Cry in 2015, Cheap Thrills and The Greatest in 2016, and Never Give Up and Rainbow in 2017. Last year, she also appeared in the Thunderclouds video for LSD; Sia's collaborative project with Labrinth and Diplo.
In 2016, Maddie's pre-taped performances were projected onto big screens throughout Sia's Sunday night set at Coachella, and she has made a number of live appearances with her since such as YouTube's Brandcast event in New York, the season finale of The Voice, Apple's iPhone 7 launch, iHeartRadio Music Festival, Sia's Nostalgic for the Present Tour and the Dubai World Cup.
She also appeared on the cover of Sia's 2017 festive album Everyday is Christmas. Last year, the duo teamed up for a MAC Cosmetics lipstick ad featuring Sia's song Helium, with all proceeds from the lipstick's sale going to the AIDS Fund.
We can expect more from this dynamic duo in the coming months, and we literally cannot wait for it. They will appear together in Sisters, their first collaborative acting venture which sees Maddie as a young version of Sia, later this year alongside Kate Hudson.
Tagged in Sia Maddie Ziegler