SYTYCD's Mamma Mia

So You Think You Can Dance choreographer/Judge Mia Michaels has been on a bit of a tear this season. During rehearsel for the first week's performances she said that she didn't think dancer Mark Kanemura was turning out as well as she thought he would. Then, last week she took Jessica King to task for being "carried" through the competition so far by her much stronger partner Will Wingfield.

But according to Michaels herself, she's just misunderstood and is merely practicing her own brand of tough love.

"What America doesn't know is the relationship," she explains at the TCA Summer Press Tour, saying that what she brings to the judging table is a choreographer's perspective. "There's a beautiful, beautiful collaboration and very nurturing [atmosphere]. For me especially, I nurture them. I'm Mamma Mia and they look to me for that tough love actually.

"So, when I say it, American might go, 'Oh my God, that's so harsh.'

"[The dancers] are cool with it. They know. They know I only want them to be brilliant."

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