Exclusive: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Reece Weaver Says Reality TV “Really Tested My Faith”

Privacy has been difficult to come by since the summer 2024 debut of America’s Sweethearts, Netflix’s docuseries about the intensive audition process to earn a spot—then earn it again every year after—on an elite 36-member squad known as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. In its first week streaming, the show was watched for 687 million minutes, second only to season three of Bridgerton. Since then, Weaver has amassed more than 2 million combined Instagram and TikTok followers, the most of any cheerleader to appear on America’s Sweethearts.

“My cup was so full from the past two years, and I was hopeful to see what year three brought,” Weaver continued. “But after my third year, the beginning of March is when I really felt at peace with my decision.” On March 31, Weaver delivered her decision to Finglass and Trammell.

In addition to her winning dance technique and bubbly personality, Weaver, a devout Christian, is best remembered on America’s Sweethearts for sharing her religious beliefs. “My first year as a rookie not knowing what they were going to show [on the TV series] really tested my faith, because I had talked about my testimony,” said Weaver. “[I didn’t know] what was going to be edited or twisted. Thankfully nothing was, but I really struggled with what they were going to show and how it was going to be perceived.”

This season, multiple cheerleaders address social media backlash they’ve experienced as a result of the show’s popularity, particularly on Reddit. Weaver and her teammates try to lift each other up, “but the biggest thing to know is that we do actually see the comments,” she said. “It’s all over our For You page. That’s just how social media works. A lot of people don’t think that we see it, but we really do and it does affect us. At the end of the day, we are daughters, sisters, wives, friends. Do for others as you would want for others to do to you.”

I ask Weaver if she would still join the team knowing that she would become such a focal point on the show. “No one’s ever asked me that,” she said with a pause, before ultimately deciding, “I would one hundred percent do it again because I have become so much stronger. I had thick skin to begin with and I didn’t know it could get thicker. A lot of people might think that that’s a negative,” she continued, “but it has shaped and pruned me into the Reece I am today.” When probed for particular regrets, Weaver insisted, “Because my faith is really, really important to me, I really do take into consideration that the Lord’s going to speak through me, and whatever is meant to be said is meant to be said.”