{"id":84564,"date":"2025-08-28T08:50:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564"},"modified":"2025-08-28T08:50:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:50:52","slug":"jenna-waller-was-cut-from-the-team-in-americas-sweethearts-a-year-later-she-tried-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564","title":{"rendered":"Jenna Waller Was Cut From the Team in ‘America’s Sweethearts,’ A Year Later, She Tried Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jenna Waller always wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, but she waited to audition until after<\/em> CMT\u2019s long-running reality series \u201cDallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team\u201d ended in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to the show ending, I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t think I could audition for DCC, because I don\u2019t want to be cut on TV,\u2019\u201d Waller tells TODAY.com.<\/p>\n

So, when she arrived for her first DCC audition in 2024, what surprised her wasn’t the toil \u2014 but the cameras. \u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweethearts,\u201d the Netflix series following the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders from auditions through the season, was filming its second season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go into auditions and turns out, there\u2019s a Netflix show,\u201d she laughs, explaining that the series\u2019 first season hadn\u2019t been released yet.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Jenna<\/p>\n

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Jenna Waller finally makes the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders! (@jennawaller_ via Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Waller was faced with one of her biggest fears: Being cut while the cameras were rolling. Then her fears came true. “America’s Sweethearts” Season 2 captured the moment Waller was cut from training camp.<\/p>\n

But after a year of intense training and a fresh start, the former Oklahoma University cheerleader, now 23, can officially call herself a DCC. She\u2019s part of the 2025-2026 squad, which begins its season in September.<\/p>\n

Chatting with TODAY.com, Waller says the \u201coverwhelming\u201d moment she learned she made the team was \u201cthe most joy I\u2019ve ever experienced in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like I was watching my whole life in pictures. As soon as Charlotte announced the team, it felt like everything I had been working for my whole life just built up into that moment,\u201d Waller continues, referring to Charlotte Jones, executive vice president of the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Below, Waller opens up about her path to this moment.<\/p>\n

What’s DCC Training Camp Like? ‘Scarier’ Than It Seems<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The San Diego, California, native first auditioned for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders in 2024. She made it through the initial rounds of tryouts and claimed a coveted spot at training camp in Dallas, Texas. At training camp, cuts are made to arrive at about 36 team members.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always ask me, \u2018Is it as scary as it seems? And I\u2019m like, \u2018It\u2019s worse. It\u2019s scarier. There\u2019s more pressure,\u2019\u201d Waller says of training camp.<\/p>\n

Recalling her state of mind going into training camp last year, Waller calls herself a \u201chead case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so in my head, just constantly in this state of anxiety,\u201d she continues. \u201cAnd then I think it just set me up to not be as successful. I couldn\u2019t get out of my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was always not good enough,\u201d she adds. \u201cNot that they were telling me that, but I just felt that way throughout the whole training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waller says she \u201cwasn\u2019t performing my best\u201d due to \u201cnerves and emotions\u201d her first time around, and was let go as the final women on the DCC roster were being selected.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweethearts\u201d Season 2 captures the conversation DCC director Kelli Finglass broke the news to Waller.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was cut, there was a moment, I think she rhetorically asked me, like, \u2018Who else? There was no one else to cut.\u2019 And I 100% agreed with that. Everybody is amazing. There\u2019s nobody else to cut,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Describing herself as having a \u201cgrowth mindset,\u201d Waller says she \u201cwould never assume that I\u2019m good enough to never have to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, immediately I told Kelly in that moment I\u2019d be back next year,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n

But she did have a limit: Waller says she would only audition twice. \u201cTo put yourself through that three times and set yourself up for potential heartbreak is really hard,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

How She Prepared for Round 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Waller considered not following through with her second audition, \u201cjust because I was going through so much mentally and emotionally.\u201d But she was bolstered by her family, friends and the women with whom she became \u201cso close\u201d while auditioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just take you in. They help you through the whole training camp,\u201d she says of the veterans on the team. \u201cI think it\u2019s because they know how hard it is on you as a rookie that you just form these deep bonds.\u201d<\/p>\n

For year two, she took a more targeted approach. While Waller had been dancing since she was 2 and had performed at the collegiate level, her DCC prep amounted to just a few specific classes the first time around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, I joined Jennifer Amburn\u2019s pro focus program,\u201d Waller says, referring to the DCC alum who started classes to prepare dancers for NFL and professional teams. Waller trained with Amburn twice a week \u2014 once privately, and once in classes \u2014 then did a separate DCC prep class.<\/p>\n

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\"Jenna<\/p>\n

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Jenna Waller at training camp. (@jennawaller_ via Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The result? A completely different audition process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pleasantly surprised that I felt a lot more calm going into this training camp,\u201d she says. \u201cI felt at peace through the whole process this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The feeling of peace without such heightened nerves allowed her to \u201cperform so much better,\u201d Waller adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember waking up finals day \u2014 and finals day is scary because it\u2019s a solo. It feels very audition-y \u2014 whereas training camp feels more like practice,\u201d Waller explains. \u201cI woke up finals day expecting to be all nerves, stomach in a knot, and it was just none of that. I felt so at peace and so excited and just happy to be there for the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once at training camp, Waller says she had the epiphany that there were simply \u201chealthy nerves\u201d she\u2019d learn to live with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is never actually going to go away. Practice is scary. This team has so much pressure. There\u2019s a certain amount of nerves that are just natural and they\u2019re going to be there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, there is the pressure of being cut, but I didn\u2019t feel like my life was going to end whether I did or didn\u2019t make the team, and I think that helped me a lot,\u201d Waller adds.<\/p>\n

Gearing Up for Her 1st ‘Thunderstruck’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Waller can’t reveal whether auditions were taped or if \u201cAmerica\u2019s Sweethearts\u201d Season 3 is confirmed, she says \u201clittle things\u201d changed this year compared to what was shown in Season 2 of the docuseries.<\/p>\n

For example, Waller says cuts happened \u201ca little bit earlier on this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like last year the cuts seemed really scary because they didn\u2019t happen until, I want to say, Week 3. So it was this built up anxiety,\u201d she says, later adding, \u201cThis year, the first cut happened a little bit earlier. So I do believe that the faster the cuts happen, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the athletes have entered the NFL football season. The Cowboys are already in their preseason, with their first regular season home game on the books Sept. 14 against the New York Giants.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Jenna<\/p>\n

<\/dialog><\/div>
Jenna Waller. (@jennawaller_ via Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Preparing for the upcoming season, Waller says the squad has practice every day, when they learn the rest of the routines and \u201cgame elements\u201d not taught during training camp.<\/p>\n

While Waller says being a collegiate cheerleader helped her, nothing can prepare her for how being on the Cowboys field will feel.<\/p>\n

With the first game on the horizon, Waller says she\u2019s both \u201cnervous\u201d and \u201cexcited\u201d for her first \u201cThunderstruck\u201d performance, the DCC\u2019s iconic dance routine that opens every Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am nervous for \u2018Thunderstruck\u2019 just because you need to have such high stamina, and it requires such endurance, so that part is scary,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m excited. And now doing \u2018Thunderstruck,\u2019 I feel so proud to be doing it, whereas before I was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on TODAY.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jenna Waller opens up about her first season as a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":84565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nJenna Waller Was Cut From the Team in 'America's Sweethearts,' A Year Later, She Tried Again - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jenna Waller Was Cut From the Team in 'America's Sweethearts,' A Year Later, She Tried Again - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jenna Waller opens up about her first season as a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-28T08:50:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/avtvip-42-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=84564\",\"name\":\"Jenna Waller Was Cut From the Team in 'America's Sweethearts,' A Year Later, She Tried Again - 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