In a candid new interview with Us Weekly, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders breakout star Victoria Kalina is filling in the gaps for Netflix fans.

The 24-year-old dancer began by shedding light on her relationship with Kelli Finglass, the director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who has a lengthy history with Victoria’s mother, Tina. According to Victoria, she grew up feeling like a part of Kelli’s family.

“We would just walk into each other’s houses. My older brother who’s a year older than me, Tristan, and Kelli’s son, Ryan, played high school football together. So I got to see the whole inner cheerleader spirit from her [back then], bringing cowbells to the games, yelling [for the team],” she explained. “Samantha, her daughter, and I would go to nights of training camp when we were 13-years-old watching Kelli and [choreographer] Judy [Trammell] do her thing. ”

While it was clear that Victoria would pursue Cowboys cheerleading, she and Kelli didn’t have a conversation when she approached the age to try out. She didn’t make the squad during her first go-round, but when she became a DCC in 2019, Victoria believes Kelli started overcompensating to ensure she wouldn’t come off as biased toward her.

“I think some people think it’s an advantage. It would be different if my mom was just on the team at the same time as Kelli, or even just was a cheerleader and I was simply a legacy. But I think that added [part of], ‘No, your mom is best friends with her’ is the complication,” Victoria told Us. “And I think people probably think that, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go over to Kelli’s house and be like, gimme the tea.’ But that’s definitely not the case. In fact, she’s trying to start from scratch with me, trying to push aside that personal relationship that we have. I feel like [she] gives me a cold shoulder so she wouldn’t ever play into that favoritism.”

Victoria noted that she did hear from Kelli before she moved to New York City earlier this summer.

“She texted me saying, ‘Good luck in New York,’ but right now she’s heavily into training camp, so I haven’t heard much from her. Before the show came out, I did go to Mexico because I was in her daughter’s wedding [as a bridesmaid]. That was the last big connection we’ve had,” she explained before adding, “I can’t see myself wanting to attend a DCC event anytime soon.”

On the Netflix series, fans saw Victoria tell Kelli and Judy that she planned to return for the 2024 season.

“Initially, I had gone in with the intention of hanging [my uniform] on the ‘Yes. I’m re-auditioning.’ I had my mind set in stone on that. I had my solo song all planned out. I had my choreographer all planned out. I was gonna fly out to meet with him and get my routine set. My costume was designed,” she explained, confirming that the girls funded their own preparations. “I didn’t want to test them, but I just wanted to see if we were on the same page [about my future]. From growing up around it, I’ve always known and have learned that you can sometimes overstay on the squad — and I never wanted to do that. You spent four years there, you want to have that almost, like, reassurance [of], ‘Yes still want you here. You’re still valuable.’”

Instead of getting reassurance, Victoria received feedback that she didn’t bring it quite as hard as she did in past seasons.

“In the meeting, y’all saw five minutes of it, but it was an hour and a half. It was what everybody else saw on Netflix’ ,just longer. Since I wasn’t hearing what I wanted to hear, I ultimately was going like, “Well I’m just gonna hang it up on no now.’ But I never wanna make a rash decision. I wanted to sit on it. I wanted to get my mom’s opinion. And after talking about it with her, she was like, ‘No.’ As a fifth year going into auditions, I felt like my place on the team was threatened. As a fifth year — I know leadership is not guaranteed — but you wanna go in like feeling cloud nine [so] you can lead these other teammates.”

She continued: “Anyone in any career position, having four years under your belt, you wanna see where you’re going, you wanna see growth. So I just decided to put my time and energy elsewhere.”

Victoria explained that she went to Kelli and Judy five days after their initial meeting to inform them of her choice. “It was very short and sweet. I just walked into their the office and was like, ‘This is what I’ve decided after our conversation.’”

She added that it’s still a bit of a mystery why Kelli and Judy didn’t picture her in a leadership role, but she goes back to the issue of perceived favoritism.

“They pushed the other side of that personal relationship, and shut it so tightly where they didn’t even see me [as an option] and therefore they said that they didn’t think that the girls would listen to me or see me as that position,” Victoria said. “I was like, ‘Well it’s because you don’t [and] it starts from the top.’ … There was no way I could do anything to change it.”

When it comes to the other girls on the squad, Victoria said, “I definitely had a hard time just connecting with them.” She still wonders if the group kept a distance because of her ties to Kelli and Judy, and also believes the year she took off in 2021 to work on her mental health and struggles with an eating disorder impacted her relationships on the team.

“That one year that I had off , I felt like I was being punished by it. …I was helping myself. I thought that would be at least just a little applauded,” she said. “And with mental health, I think that sometimes is why people don’t open up — they feel like if they do, then they get punished or [viewed] as weaker … ‘No, I was doing that so I could be better.’”

Many viewers have fixated on a scene between Victoria celebrating her birthday with an elaborate setup but with only her mother in attendance. When she mentioned in a separate podcast interview that she invited the girls on the squad to come over, several DCC’s got defensive in the comments.

“Envelope invitations were never sent out. I did not make any invitations and set them in the girls’ locker to be like, ‘Hey, be here at 6.’ It was word of mouth, loosely spread,” Victoria told Us. “We were on appearance [that morning] and I think that’s when Netflix had finally decided within their filming schedule that they were gonna be like, ‘Hey, we wanna come, we wanna celebrate with you. We wanna see the whole thing that goes down in the Kalina household.’ And I was like, ‘Netflix will be there, cake will be there. The more the merrier.’”

While Victoria said a lot of the girls have “definitely reached out” and said they “didn’t really know that that’s how I felt,” she’s focused on her next steps.

“Of course I’m gonna respond and ‘heart’ the message and everything, but I think right now I’m just being me. I’m figuring out my new path, new journey and if they wanna stick along for the ride, then props to them,” she said.

Speaking of that new journey, Victoria is working with a coach to prepare for auditions to shows in NYC, including the Radio City Rockettes. She relocated to the East Coast earlier in July, marking the first time she’s lived without her mom by her side. (Don’t worry, they talk on the phone every day and Tina has already come to visit.)

“I just wanted to get up here as soon as possible and get acclimated,” Victoria said, telling Us that the form required to be a Rockette is different from that of a cheerleader. “[Dance coach] Rhonda Malkin has taken me under her wing and I’m actually in her summer workshop right now. … I could totally see myself on Broadway as well. That would be a dream, so I’m also trying to find a voice coach. Because that’s one thing I’ve never dabbled in — acting and or singing. I’m gonna be open to anything. I’m gonna attend any and all auditions that are out there.”