Leaving the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Is ‘Just the Beginning’ for <i><em>America’s Sweethearts</em></i> Star Reece Weaver

Spoilers below.

Season 3 of Netflix’s docuseries America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders comments openly on the consequences of its own actions: While the cheerleaders were minor celebrities before, the popularity of the series has catapulted the women to a level of fame that some of them were, admittedly, unprepared for. That includes Reece Weaver, the sunny squad member who quickly became a focal point and fan favorite in the series created by Greg Whiteley. “When the show came out and had such a great response, it was so encouraging and super, super exciting,” she tells ELLE over Zoom, two days after the third season was released. “But it also came with a lot of challenges—with social media and people having a very loud opinion.” Over the course of her third year on the team known as DCC, Weaver came to the conclusion that she needed to step away.

A few months after making her decision, Weaver is looking forward to what comes next, even if she’s still not certain what that will look like. “I’m not finished,” she says. “The word retirement is so scary...and I still want to do so much with my life. I’m just simply moving on to the next chapter, and excited to see what that entails. This is just the beginning.”

Ahead, she tells ELLE about her life in the spotlight for the past three years; the moment she made the decision to walk away from the team; and the Broadway shows she’d love to star in someday.

Definitely relieved. This is probably the biggest secret that I’ve had to keep. It’s bittersweet, but I also feel like there’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I don’t have to live in secrecy anymore.

I had an incredible community around me that held me accountable. People didn’t really understand [what I was experiencing], but they offered me so much grace and compassion with my new reality. Will [Allman, her husband] and I got married exactly two months before the show came out. When we got back from our honeymoon and I watched the first two episodes, I had no idea how much coverage we were going to get. It was hard to wrap my head around what our new reality was going to look like until it actually happened. There were pressures of not only carrying the responsibility of being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader in general, but also the pressures of making sure we kept that standard high now that more eyes were on us.

Weaver in America’s Sweethearts season 3.

No, not at all. My rookie class was the first to experience what the Netflix world would look like, and I think that’s why we’re all so tight—we all experienced it together. But we had not a clue as to what it would look like. From our directors and producers and film crew, everyone kept us in the loop of the integrity behind what they were documenting, but we still didn’t know what to expect until it actually was here.

In March, I had a confirmative answer, and I was really at peace with my decision. I wanted to give Kelly [Finglass, team director] and Judy [Trammell, head choreographer] an answer by the end of March, and I had been wrestling with this decision for a while. It wasn’t until the beginning of March that I started taking the steps of solidifying it, because it was going to take me a while for it to sink in.

Not necessarily. I just kept avoiding this [feeling] of wanting to jump into something new and taking a leap of faith. I wanted to do what felt comfortable, but I felt like the Lord was calling me elsewhere. I was just wrestling with it. When I started to think about stepping away, the more I saw doors opening and opportunities being presented, and I felt at peace that this was something I was supposed to do.

Yes, we have officially moved back to Alabama. This was a dream of ours, even before we graduated college, and it’s a blessing that it’s come to fruition. We have such a sweet community in Dallas, and we will always be visiting. I’m sure we will be there quite a lot, but we have a great community here, and we’re a lot closer to family.

Something I talked about in episode 7 was that I really wanted to take a leap of faith, and I didn’t know where that was going to lead me. I’m a person who likes to have everything in place and look down three months from now and know what’s going on. But that’s not the case for me right now, and I’m embracing that. So I don’t have anything that is set in progress.

Actually, the injury this past year has rekindled my love for dance. I really wanted to go back to how I was raised in dance, which is in the conservatory tracks: classic, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and specifically theater-style dance. I really want to go back to that, and a huge dream of mine is Broadway. I’m also working on a book. It’s a lot of different avenues that I’ve never put myself in, but I’m really excited to see what that brings out.

I can’t share too much, but my hope is that it inspires a lot of young women. I hope that through the words on the page they can hear me, and that they can see vulnerable and authentic Reece. But it’s cool because I actually wrote this down in high school, like what I see myself doing in 10 years. I wrote down DCC, Broadway, and writing a book. I’m like, Where did that come from? But it’s just so cool that that’s coming to fruition.

As someone who grew up as a dancer, it’s Chicago. The music is just so iconic, and I was always listening to it growing up, so I feel like that would be really cool. And then I also love Just in Time, a newer Broadway show, but the music…my soul lights up when I hear that classic jazz musical theater music.

Weaver and her DCC teammate Megan McElaney.

I’ve always thought about it. I think if I were to audition for the Rockettes, I would take a little bit of time, because I know that the seasons are very similar to DCC—that fall and Christmastime is your busy season. I want to take a little bit of time for myself to enjoy the holiday season, and then we’ll see.

I would love to still be connected with the organization. I’m just so grateful for the people I’ve met, especially my teammates—they’re my best friends. I would love to step into the choreography side and help if they want, or maybe do some mentorship or something like that. They’ll definitely be seeing me, whether they like it or not, at games. I’ll be supporting the girls as much as possible.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.