Then 18-years-old, Victoria was told that, during auditions, judges wanted her to \u201ctone up her tummy\u201d to better her chances of becoming one of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweethearts\u201d. In the new series, she speaks candidly about how the organisation has been a huge part of her life since childhood \u2013 and how much it has wrecked her self-esteem, damaged her relationship with food and led to insecurities about being an outsider, or not popular enough to be a future leader, in the close-knit group of girls.<\/p>\n One former DCC \u201cRookie\u201d (a dancer who made it to training camp) says that senior members of staff regularly told her she was too heavy to be on the squad, despite the fact that she was a US size 2 (UK size 6) at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember walking into training after a full shift at work, in a hospital, and one of the older dancers telling me I should put more makeup on because Kelli would be mad if not,\u201d the Chicago-based dancer tells me [all the dancers spoken to for this article asked not to be named or their rookie years included, so they were not at risk of legal action by the Cowboys]. \u201cI would be doing 12-14 hour days most days, trying to make the team, and I basically wasn\u2019t eating because I was so scared of getting fat \u2013 I\u2019d get home and watch old episodes of Barefoot Contessa [Ina Garten\u2019s hit cookery show] on the Food Network while nibbling on rice cakes, to trick me into feeling full.\u201d<\/p>\n Two years ago, the Cowboys were forced to settle a multi-million dollar settlement to four past cheerleaders following allegations that Richard Dalrymple, the Cowboys\u2019 senior vice president of public relations and communications, filmed them in their changing rooms at AT&T stadium. Dalrymple denied the allegations, while the Cowboys said they found no proof of any wrongdoing on his part; in a later statement, owner Jones said the settlement showed the Cowboys took such allegations seriously.<\/p>\n An episode from the new Netflix series features a cheerleader being led away from the sideline of the stadium to make a police report after being groped by a camera man; another describes the team\u2019s guidelines for photographs with members of the public, with men handed a football to grip in front of them so they\u2019re not tempted to grab the cheerleaders\u2019 waists.<\/p>\n In a statement to HuffPost about the pitchside groping incident, Cowboys representatives said: \u201cSafety and security are always a core imperative for us with the Cheerleaders. In this specific situation, on-site Arlington Police Department officers were immediately engaged. A thorough review of the incident was initiated quickly. Any contact was determined to be unintentional and no charges were deemed to be appropriate by APD.\u201d<\/p>\n The organisation has also been criticised for its lack of diversity \u2013 in this year\u2019s squad, just six dancers are black. A black woman who applied in 2014 after dancing for another leading sports team says she was told not to wear her natural hair or a plaited style for auditions, but to straighten it so she \u201clooked more feminine\u201d. Years of classical training in jazz and contemporary styles were ignored by fellow dancers who asked if her background involved \u201cstreet or hip-hop,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Unrealistic beauty standards and racism aren\u2019t the only controversies that have plagued the Cowboys (and NFL cheerleading in general) in recent years. In 2014, the NFL was rocked by its first class-action lawsuit when the former Oakland Raiders dancer Lacy Thibodeaux-Fields accused her organisation of wage theft and gender discrimination; she was paid only $1,250 for an entire season, with rehearsals and ambassadorial events remaining unpaid.<\/p>\n Four years later, Erica Wilkins \u2013 who danced with the DCC for three years, including as part of its prestigious 12-person \u201cshow group\u201d, and appeared solo on the team\u2019s swimsuit calendar \u2013 sued the Cowboys for lost wages, alleging that she was paid just $4,700 after taxes (they get paid $8 per hour for practices, only a whisper above Texas minimum wage). It\u2019s a figure made even more staggering when compared to the reported earnings of the Dallas Cowboys mascot, Rowdy, at $65,000 a year plus commission.<\/p>\n The cheerleaders are expected to train most evenings, work around their actual jobs, and be available to perform across public holidays and weekends \u2013 and that\u2019s before you factor in the thousands of dollars spent on a lifetime of dance training or outfits and accommodation for auditions. Speaking to the New York Post at the time of the lawsuit, Wilkins said: \u201cYes, it is prestigious. But at the end of the day, prestigious doesn\u2019t pay my rent. I can\u2019t walk down to my leasing office and hand them my uniform for the month.\u201d In the new series, ex-cheerleader Katherine Puryear says a dancer on the team makes a wage comparable to that of a substitute teacher or Chick-fil-A worker; meaning those without family wealth or support rely on other employment to survive.<\/p>\n The restrictions aren\u2019t solely financial, either, with women on the squad undergoing strict media training and social media regulation. When Roe v Wade was repealed two years ago, the DCC were criticised for not putting out a public statement deploring its impact on women and girls in Texas. Elsewhere, during the pandemic, one of the squad\u2019s most talented dancers, Hannah Anderson, decided to quit over the organisation\u2019s purported lack of safety protocols. Writing on Instagram, she said: \u201cThe decisions made prioritised reality TV over the health and wellbeing of the organisation\u2019s individuals, capitalising on the dreams of 50 women in order to create content and ratings in the midst of a pandemic.<\/p>\n Having now invited Netflix\u2019s cameras into their hallowed halls, the DCC seems to still be prioritising making great television rather than protecting their \u201csisterhood\u201d. Remembering how little the dancers get paid, and how strictly their professional and personal lives are regulated by the organisation, makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow, and begs the question: how much of Netflix\u2019s cash injection is actually going into their bank accounts?<\/p>\n America\u2019s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is on Netflix now<\/em><\/p>\n Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader has become a byword for American excellence: the paradigm of beauty and class (or, as their official motto puts it, \u201coften imitated, never equalled\u201d talent). Since their inception in 1961, the DCC \u2013 with their quintessentially Texan bouncy curls, white cowboy boots and sparkling smiles \u2013 have long captured the imagination of the American public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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