In its Season 2 finale, America’s Sweetheart: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders bids an emotional farewell to several veteran dancers who decide to explore new horizons — their goodbyes punctuated by symbolically hanging up their uniform in front of the team’s director, Kelli Finglass, and head choreographer, Judy Trammell.
However, one fourth-year cheerleader made an unexpected departure outside of the traditional meeting. Here’s what happened to KayDianna MacKenzie, and why she left the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
An Abrupt Exit
In the second season finale, Kelli tells the camera that KayDianna opted to leave the team after “one conversation of honest feedback.”
The conversation, KayDianna explains, was about her activity on TikTok. During a live stream — that viewers later circulated online — KayDianna received questions about what happened with teammate Chandi Dayle during a team retreat in The Bahamas. After breaking team protocol by inviting someone into the group’s hotel, Chandi took a leave of absence and KayDianna stepped into her position as group leader.
On TikTok, KayDianna said she would “make a video on that one day” — but, she notes on America’s Sweethearts, she didn’t actually talk about Chandi in the stream.
She says that the team’s staff suspended her and put her under investigation for “being a bully and harassing.”
Netflix
This event — coupled with KayDianna saying she “didn’t feel supported” in her role as a group leader — prompted the dancer to exit the team. “I just told myself that I needed to take myself out of the organization, and that I needed to respect myself,” she says in the doc.
What’s Next?
Since announcing her departure in April, KayDianna has spent time traveling and beginning a new podcast, KayDianna’s Korner. And while she may not be a cheerleader anymore, teammate Jada McLean — who also departed after the 2024-2025 season — tells Bustle the women still keep in touch.
“It was a bit surprising all around, but again, we’re still supportive of her decision, and it hasn’t changed our friendship,” she says, adding that KayDianna recently attended a teammate’s wedding with several fellow dancers.
“Nothing has really changed. We’re still a unit, even if it seems like we’re not,” Jada continues. “We care about each other. We’re family. At the end of the day, a lot of us moved to Dallas to be on this team, and we’re all we have. So it’s not the type of atmosphere where we’d just leave somebody out. We do our best to let them know that they’re still part of the family, regardless of decisions that are made or things that go on.”
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