In season one of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, viewers of the instantly viral Netflix docuseries were enthralled in the lore, pageantry, and drama of the iconic squad. But it was two dancers who didn’t even make the team that turned out to be the show’s biggest stars.
With cameras following, Charly Barby and Kelly Villares auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad in the summer of 2023, making it through solo auditions and the team’s long and taxing training camp. Both women were new to the scene and new to the South (Barby is from California, Villares from New Jersey), which gave them an endearing, fish-out-of-water flair. By the time they were both cut during training camp, viewers felt the rejection right along with them.
Don’t worry, though, their time on the show isn’t over. Because, as viewers will see in season two, the duo trained together for the next year, tried out again—and made it.
“It was amazing, it was a dream every day,” Villares tells Glamour of her first year as a DCC. “We’re now going into our second year, but we still are in awe of the people that we're around, the opportunities that we get. We did so many cool things just in that one year, and those are memories to last a lifetime.”
Season two of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders picks up with the duo as they head into their second training camp nearly a year after being cut. As they tell the cameras, they both had a singleminded focus on making the team this time around and became inseparable best friends in the process.
As Barby explains, they both went back to their respective home states after their time on the show, working at dance studios, saving up money, and training for their next shot. Eventually, Barby moved to Dallas in January so she could focus on taking DCC prep classes five days a week.
“Kelly came in and stayed with me literally every single weekend, and it was so much fun, but definitely a lot of training on both of our parts and a lot of full commitment to wanting to make the team,” she tells me.
The women understand that it may be hard for some to understand their level of commitment, essentially putting their entire life on pause for a year to train for one, singular goal. Villares even kept her hair brown after the DCC stylists dyed it from blonde during the team’s training camp “makeover,” a change that may not seem like a lot, but in many ways symbolized her commitment.
“It was a hard adjustment, especially after being released,” she says. “I look at myself in the mirror, and I'm like, *oh my God, I just want to make the team. And now I'm a brunette!*” Now, she says, “I would never go back blonde.”
For Villares and Barby, it was never a question of whether or not they would try again. They see it more as, why would we not?