It’s time to cheer on a new batch of sweethearts.
Netflixrevealed Aug. 20 that they’re high kicking once more, renewingAmerica’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleadersfor a fourth season set to return in 2027.
Season four will follow a new batch of rookies and vets throughout the 2026 to 2027 football season—from the highly competitive auditions to training camp and beyond.
The renewal comes less than two months after the release of season three, which spent two weeks in Netflix’s global top 10 in 22 countries, including the United States.
The squad’s senior directorKelliFinglassand head choreographerJudyTrammellare also set to return, with Finglass noting how excited they are for the new iteration of the squad.
“Each new season is another opportunity to showcase the extraordinary talent, dedication and individuality of our team,” she shared in an Aug. 20 press release. “We’re proud to continue to share their stories and artistry with audiences, inspiring the next generation of young performers all over the world to dream big and pursue their passions.”
read
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ Reece Weaver Will Join These Stars Who Made Their Broadway Debut
Prior to the renewal, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleadersrevealed their official rosterfor the upcoming season, welcoming eight new rookies to the team.
“Officially earned their stars,” theDCC Instagram wrote in a July 16 post. “Introducing your 2026-2027 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!”
Among those who will have the chance to sport silver, blue and white for the first time areAmiyah Naulls,Haley Bogdon,Lexi Smith,Aubrey Rogers. And fans can still look forward to seeing a few returning faces, includingEmily Awbrey,Brianne LindenauandSavannah Dastrup, who earned their stripes after being cut from the team during last year’s audition cycle.
Unfortunately, not all the fan favorites will be returning asReece Weaverrecently revealed she was ready to set down her pom-poms after three seasons with the team—a choice that was entirely her own.
“There’s a lot of people that speculate that this wasn’t necessarily my decision, like other outside things were pulling me,” Weaver told E! News in June after the season three finale ofAmerica’s Sweethearts. “A lot of people are always scared to stay in their box and be like, ‘Well, this is it. There’s no other step.’ I just want to encourage people to be bold enough to take that leap.”
Still, that’s not to say that bidding farewell to her fellow sweethearts was easy, although she knew it was the right choice for her.
“I’ve been wrestling with this decision all throughout this past year and a lot of it came from just having a heart full of gratitude,” the 24-year-old, who is set to join the cast ofChicagoon Broadway in the fall,added. “I really felt at peace that I was supposed to take a leap of faith and just trust that I might not know what’s in store the next three months or so down the road.”
For a deep dive into all the secrets about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, keep reading.
Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
A doctor told Caroline she needed surgery following four seasons of jump-splitting her joints into a permanently injured state, as she shared on the show, “but a hip surgery like that is a good three to six months recovery. I was like, ‘I really want to do one more year of cheerleading.’ I just wanted to push through.”
“You would think hip surgery would be a little worse,” Caroline said. “But the foot has so many nerves in it. So from the [end-of-season] banquet until now I’ve just been recovering a lot, which has been a bit of a wake-up call.”
Her chiropractic sports practitioner Dr. Kristina Myles noted in a post showing Salter getting worked on, “our focus is primarily correcting facial layers that can cause pain, stiffness, or loss of range of motion when injured or overworked.”
ESPN reported in 2017 that NFL team cheerleaders made roughly $75 to $150 per game, an eye-opening moment for fans who assumed those glamorous performers were making bank. Or at least a living wage.
As seen in the first season of America’s Sweethearts, DCC alum Kelcey Wetterberg is a pediatric registered nurse, while then-newcomer Reece Allman (née Weaver), who returned for the 2024 season, worked at a Dallas florist to supplement her earnings from cheerleading.
According to the Dallas Morning News, cheerleader pay has since risen to closer to $400 per game, plus hourly wages for all the time spent preparing for games and making appearances.
Still, DCC alum Kat Puryear said on the Netflix show, “I would say I’m making, like, a substitute teacher [salary]…I would say I’m making, like, Chick-fil-A worker that works full-time” money.
In addition to her full-time job as a marketing/recruiting coordinator at Bluecrest Financial Alliances, per LinkedIn, she had added makeup artist for The Styling Stewardess to her resume—and when all that work is done, it’s off to AT&T Stadium for evening practice, which ends at 11 p.m.
As Salter put it to E! News, “DCC has taught a lot of us about time management. We’ve got to make sure that we have time for not only our jobs and DCC, but also ourselves.”
“Trying to make that uniform fit and and have the most beautiful lines, we don’t talk about weight,” DCC director since 1991 Kelli Finglass told E! News. “The girls are all very good with their own nutrition, their own personal workouts. We have a gym adjacent to our dance studio,” plus nutritionists and mental health experts available for consultation.
The women are free to focus on their own personal regimens, “and we try to provide resources and educate them,” Finglass said. “We leave it at that. And I think we’re better for that.”
The DCC audition FAQ section on their website advises, “You should look well-proportioned in dancewear. We DO NOT have specific height and weight requirements.”
“I think everything around the cheerleaders has changed,” Finglass told the New York Times. “And they’re adapting to many things like social media and visibility. But at the core, they are world-class dancers, and a big part of what they do requires a servant’s heart. That has been the case throughout our entire history.”
“They go to dinners with high-ranking military officials,” Finglass explained to the Times, “so they are put in situations that they may not have been exposed to yet as an 18- or 19-year-old from a small town.”
And since people get so excited to see the DCC all around the world, she continued, “I love them learning all the different facets and being polished and poised and prepared. All I’m trying to do is give them every tool possible, so they can be confident.”
Among the aesthetic rules: No red lips and no red nails. Plus, hair must always be worn down, and Dallas’ Tangerine Salon has been keeping the ladies’ locks bouncy for years.
Also, if you have a tattoo, that’s fine—but it has to be completely masked with makeup and bronzer for games.
She lamented that their longrunning CMT reality show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, which ended in 2022 after 16 seasons, “didn’t show the things we do the rest of the year,” Trammell told Entertainment Tonight. “The USO tours, the veterans hospital, the children’s hospital visits. We do so much more than has ever been seen.”
Because not all that unlike getting out of the military, when someone retires from cheerleading it’s admittedly “a big lifestyle change to go from seeing your teammates every night at rehearsals to not,” the DCC director explained. “That’s why we try to supplement that immediately with alumni activities. Because it is sad for all of us.”
Noting that the ladies go on to share major milestones—such as weddings, and then their kids’ weddings—for years after their cheering days are done, Finglass added, “I feel like a school teacher, and when your students graduate, you’re always excited for the new freshman class. But of course you have emotions, and you have relationships that you know are not going to be seen or felt on a daily basis.”
