NEED TO KNOW

• The second season of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders premiered on Netflix on June 18
• The series documents the intense audition process, training camp and football year for the 2024-2025 squad
• In addition to returning castmates from season 1, season 2 of the series also highlights veteran members like Chandi Dayle and Jada Mclean as well as hopeful rookies life Madie Krueger and Dayton Bramhall

When season 1 of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders debuted on Netflix in June 2024, it became an instant hit. And now, the docuseries — which takes fans behind the scenes of the iconic NFL cheer team — is back for a second season.

Just like its debut season, season 2 of the Netflix series chronicles both veteran squad members and aspiring rookies as they vie for one of the coveted 36 spots on the squad. Throughout the seven episodes, viewers will watch as the dancers embark on the grueling audition process (which includes a weeks-long training camp led by DCC director Kelli Finglass and head choreographer Judy Trammell) and endure emotional cuts to form the 2024-2025 team. Then, the cameras stick with the DCC through the conclusion of the football season, as the cheerleaders balance their demanding NFL schedule with their equally packed personal lives.

Several fan favorite cheerleaders from season 1 of America’s Sweethearts are returning for season 2 — including veterans Reece Weaver and Sophy Laufer and hopefuls Kelly Villares and Charly Barby, who were both heartbroken when they did not initially make the team in 2023. But there are also many fresh faces in the spotlight for the second season of the show, including veteran cheerleaders stepping into leadership positions and brand-new rookies hoping to land a spot on the 2024-2025 team.

Here’s everything to know about the new cheerleaders featured on America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders season 2.

Chandi Dayle

In season 2 of America’s Sweethearts, Chandi Dayle returns for her sixth and final season as a DCC — making her the most tenured veteran on the team. For the 2024-2025 NFL season, she is selected as a first group leader (one of four leadership positions on the team) and to fill one of the coveted “point” spots in the team’s famous “Thunderstruck” routine.

Dayle, who is 28 years old, is originally from Oro Valley, Arizona. According to her DCC bio, she danced at the University of Arizona, serving as captain of their pomline for two years, before auditioning for DCC in 2019.

“I saw two of my teammates and one former pommie from Arizona Pomline go on and achieve their dreams of becoming a DCC,” Dayle said with regards to what initially drew her to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. “Once my college coach started talking to me more about the DCC, I started to research them more and fell in love.”

Dayle made the team in 2019 and quietly rose through the ranks of the organization during her six seasons as a DCC (eventually being selected as a Pro Bowl cheerleader in 2024). She also held down four other jobs while cheering for the Dallas Cowboys organization — serving as a social media manager for a local pediatric dentistry practice, working as a licensed pharmacy technician for her family’s business, performing contract work for a DCC sponsor and being employed at a Pilates studio.

Jada Mclean

Jada Mclean enters the 2024-2025 season as a fifth-year veteran of the DCC, as well as one of the team’s group leaders and the other “point” dancer.

Mclean, 25, is heavily featured during season 2 of America’s Sweethearts — not only for her leadership role as a veteran on the team, but also for her efforts towards trying to secure higher pay for herself and her teammates. She, along with the majority of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, work multiple jobs (Mclean is a cosmetics specialist at a dermatology practice) while balancing the demanding DCC schedule in order to make a livable wage.

Mclean originally hails from Palm Springs, Calif., but grew up as a Dallas Cowboys fan, according to an interview with NBC Palm Springs. She attended the University of California, Davis for two years, where she was a member of the dance team, before auditioning for DCC in 2020 and making the team.

“It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime, in all honesty, to be a part of a team that is just so highly recognized all over the world and that lots of little girls want to be a part of,” she told the outlet.

Armani Latimer

Another fifth year veteran of the DCC during the 2024-2025 NFL season is Armani Latimer.

As a veteran member of the team, Latimer is selected as one of the four group leaders — but her impact is felt far beyond that leadership role. Latimer is one of the cheerleaders who campaigns for salary increases for the team during the 2024-2025 season. She also uses her platform as a DCC to raise awareness for alopecia — an autoimmune condition that Latimer was diagnosed with when she was 12 — by dancing without her wig at a game for the first time since joining the team. The emotional performance, as well as the contract negotiations, are both featured in season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.

Outside of DCC, Armani, who turned 24 in January, works as a billing coordinator for a law firm. The South Carolina native plans to pursue law school after her retirement from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which came at the end of the 2024-2025 season.

Megan McElaney

Megan McElaney is a fourth-year veteran and group leader featured on season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.

Prior to joining the DCC in 2021, McElaney grew up in Oceanside, Calif., where she danced competitively throughout her childhood alongside one of her older brothers. She went on to attend San Diego State University, where she was on the dance team for four years. After helping lead her college dance team to a national title (the first in the school’s history), McElaney auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in 2021.

“I was not ready to give up on my dancing career after college and if I was going to continue to dance, I had to go big,” she shared in her official DCC bio.

When she’s not cheerleading, McElaney works as a marketing director for Bluecrest Financial in Dallas, according to SDSU’s Alumni magazine. She has been in a relationship with Alex Blaszyk for two years; the couple recently purchased their first home together in Texas, according to her Instagram.

KayDianna Garza

In season 2 of America’s Sweethearts, KayDianna Garza is a fourth-year veteran of the DCC

In her personal life, Garza has been married to her husband, Eric Garza, since March 2023; the couple share three dogs together. She launched her own podcast, KayDianna’s Korner, in May 2025.

Abby Summers

Abby Summers appears as a rookie candidate during season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.

Summers is from Toledo, Ohio, and was recruited as a junior in high school to dance for the Ohio State University dance team, according to Tudum. She won six UDA National Championship titles during her time at OSU and, after graduating, decided to audition for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Ariel Brumfield

Ariel Brumfield is another DCC hopeful featured in season 2 of the Netflix hit series. Brumfield originally auditioned for the team in 2023, but was the last cut made at finals before training camp.

The Louisiana native spent the next year preparing to re-audition, working on her flexibility and her high kicks — both of which were marked as areas needing improvement during her initial tryout.

Ava Lahey

Ava Lahey originally auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in 2021, but was ultimately cut for posting provocative photos on Instagram. She returns in 2024, after graduating from the University of Kentucky, to try her shot at the team once again.

Lahey, who also works as a social media manager, is originally from Jacksonville, Ill. She announced her engagement to boyfriend Tyger Vaniter in June 2025.

Clare Marie Kuebler

Another college dancer-turned-DCC-hopeful is Clare Marie Kuebler, who spent four years on the University of Missouri dance team prior to trying out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Kuebler — who is also a former Miss Missouri — is one of the rookie candidates featured in season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.

Dayton Bramhall

In season 1 of America’s Sweethearts, viewers saw DCC Victoria Kalina following in her mother Tina’s footsteps (as Tina cheered for the team in the 1980s). This season, there’s another mother-daughter storyline — and it focuses on Shelly Bramhall, a former DCC and current assistant choreographer for the team, and her daughter Dayton.

Dayton previously auditioned for the DCC twice, but both attempts were unsuccessful. The second cut left “scar tissue,” according to Dayton, and sank her into a depression. In season 2 of America’s Sweethearts, Dayton is back — six years after her last attempt — to try once more to make the team.

Jenna Waller

Jenna Waller appears on season 2 of America’s Sweethearts as one of the rookie candidates for the 2024-2025 season. She is a 2024 graduate of the University of Oklahoma.

Madie Krueger

At just 18 years old, Madie Krueger is one of the youngest DCC hopefuls featured on season 2 of America’s Sweethearts.

Hailing from La Porte, Texas, Krueger has been dancing since she was 2 years old and was named Miss Dance of Texas twice (in 2021 and 2023). She attended the 2024-2025 DCC tryouts fresh out of high school and began her freshman year at Texas Women’s University last fall. She and her boyfriend, Bryant, recently adopted a puppy named Kipp, she shared on Instagram.

Read the original article on People