off the sidelines
The second season of Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts follows Dayle’s unlikely rise to team leader—and her shocking ouster as she grapples with the aftermath of domestic abuse.
BySavannah Walsh
July 2, 2025
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By Sami Drasin/Courtesy of Netflix.
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The women of the Netflix reality hit America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are most fascinating when they’re walking out the door. That was true of season one breakout Victoria Karlina, who left Texas after four fraught years with the premier NFL cheerleading squad to pursue her dream of becoming a Rockette in New York City. Season two of the docuseries spotlights another veteran cheerleader—Chandi Dayle—as she plans to retire after six seasons with the team.
But what begins as a triumphant victory lap for Dayle, a well-liked leader who’s often positioned front-and-center on the field, ends in shocking fashion. “It’s been really crazy and overwhelming” to relive it all, Dayle tells Vanity Fair in her first interview since season two dropped. It’s also “therapeutic, because you can watch yourself grow up and then close a chapter.”
In the show’s second season, Dayle reveals that she is a survivor of domestic violence, harassment, and stalking at the hands of an ex-boyfriend. “I feel like I always have to have my head on a swivel,” Dayle says at one point in the series, explaining that despite filing police reports against her ex, she hasn’t received a protective order due to a supposed lack of evidence. “Even though I had witnesses, and the second time I had photos and notes, none of that even mattered,” Dayle says on the show.
Though she felt ready to speak out about her private pain, Dayle wasn’t always sure she had made the right decision. “It was a roller coaster for sure,” she says. “There were times I was so proud of myself for having that weight lifted off my shoulders. But there were also times like, ‘Oh, my gosh, did I share too much about my life? Are people going to think I’m crazy for staying in this situation for that long?’”
Dayle was also under pressure due to the multiple jobs she has to hold in order to survive as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. The women of America’s Sweethearts earn more money now than they used to—but even their increased salaries are paltry compared to the millions netted by most Dallas Cowboys. “People are shocked at how athletic we are. I’ve always been told dance is not a sport, but it is,” Dayle says. “This athleticism that you have to have to be a DCC is unmatched.”
Courtesy of Netflix
On the show, Dayle also opens up about being adopted by her parents, who divorced when she was 12. After her father remarried, he and her stepmother told Dayle that they weren’t going to keep in touch with her or her younger sister. Dayle’s mother Joanna confirms this in the series, and reveals that she’s only seen her daughter cry once—because she “doesn’t like to express her vulnerability to anyone other than herself.” Dayle agrees: especially when she was part of the team, “I was suppressing a lot of emotions. When you’re in those environments, you’re just living on a prayer.”
It was understandably difficult for her mother to watch the season. “I remember her texting me, ‘I didn’t know you were going through all this. I didn’t know you were that sad. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there more,’” Dayle says. “It made us closer because I could be open with her.”
Midway through the season, Dayle reaches her personal breaking point. While on a team retreat in the Bahamas shown, Dayle invites a man back to her hotel room—a violation to DCC protocol. “Chandi brought somebody into the room that no one had known, and a lot of people were just worried for their safety because they didn’t know who this individual was,” fifth-year veteran Jada Mclean says on the show.
Later, Dayle shares her side of the story. “I met someone and we shared similar things that have happened in our past,” she says on the series. So she confided in him. In the aftermath, she understands that this “was probably the wrong place and time to do that. But selfishly, I had to do it for me. Because I feel like I was losing it.”
Speaking now, Dayle says there isn’t much more to the story than what was shown on the series. “It’s really nice to confide in a friend who has gone through similar things. I take complete ownership for my actions, but we’re also all just humans.” When asked if she has stayed in contact with the mystery man, Dayle replies, “Yeah, I am there for my friend. I hope that I can be a rock for others.”
Chandi Dayle and Jada Mclean in season two of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.Courtesy of Netflix
While Dayle maintains that she was not unfaithful in the Bahamas, she did split up with her boyfriend Ryan—who was also featured on season two of the show—after the trip. “After we parted ways and wrapped up filming, we did have a conversation about everything. And I feel like there was closure,” she tells VF. “We’re friends. We support each other in everything we do.”
When she returned to Texas, Dayle took a leave of absence from her duties as group leader to address her mental health and was missing from several games—which didn’t go unnoticed online. “That’s when I found the therapist that I love today, who has healed me in ways I didn’t think I could be,” says Dayle. “I was happy to cheer on the girls from afar.”
Her replacement, fourth-year cheerleader KayDianna MacKenzie, was less enthused. “Bahamas happened. I stepped into leadership. I definitely didn’t feel supported. I felt like I was just a body,” she says on the show. “It was as if Chandi got the perks of being a first leader and I got the responsibility part of it.” MacKenzie also left the team after the season documented on America’s Sweethearts season two.
DCC choreographer Judy Trammell was more forgiving about Dayle’s need to step back. “I feel very motherly to her. She needs hugs and she needs love and she needs forgiveness,” Trammell says on the series. “We’re not gonna leave any of our children out in the cold.”
When asked about the mixed reception to her hiatus, Dayle delivers an exceedingly diplomatic response: “It’s a sisterhood, and I will forever cherish the 35 sisters I’ve shared this last season with. I value all of them as friends and as teammates, and I think that they’ll always feel my love and I’ll always feel their love.”
But is it challenging to watch the negative reactions, especially knowing how turbulent her personal life was when her teammates were criticizing her? “What was hard was just watching myself not be okay—and that’s a point I wanted to make throughout the season, where it’s okay not to be okay,” Dayle says. “Everyone’s going to hit a rock bottom at some point, but that’s where you lean on others. And someone’s always in your corner.”
Sami Drasin/Courtesy of Netflix
Sami Drasin/Courtesy of Netflix
One such person is Dayle’s therapist, who has told her that she thrives in anxious environments—a pattern she’s working to break. “It’s really hard to have all that pressure on you all the time. I don’t really know who I am. DCC is not even happy for me anymore because I don’t know myself,” she says in season two. “They expect you to wake up and be perfect every day and I can’t do it anymore. I really just wanted to dance and be happy, and I just haven’t been.”
After returning for her final game in January of this year, Dayle packed up her pom-poms for good, although she still remains close with several of her past teammates—including Mclean and fellow series standouts Kelcey Wetterberg and Amanda Howard. She’s also holding onto happy memories like the time she traveled with DCC members to Nashville to perform with Dolly Parton: “That’s going to be number one forever.”
Now, at the age of 28, Dayle is finally embracing her full self—including the quiet disposition she’d spent years trying to change. “I’ve always been labeled as a follower, but I find that as a strength now instead of a weakness of mine,” she says. “I’m really good at listening and being there for others when they need it.”
After retiring and recovering from hip surgery, Dayle plans to move back to her home state, where she will coach dance at her alma mater, the University of Arizona. She’s still absorbing the positive impact of her presence on Netflix. “I’ve been getting a lot of messages about domestic violence, and it’s overwhelming to know that so many people are going through that, it hurts my heart,” she says. “No one should ever feel that type of pain—ever. But knowing that they’re not alone in this gives me peace, because I helped someone else find their voice.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, receive confidential support at the National Domestic Hotline, which is 1-800-799-SAFE (or 1-800-799-7233).
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