Stars of the Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Charly Barby and Kelly Villares celebrated their first game as official squad members after they didn’t make the team last season.
Charly, 23, shared a short video via TikTok on Saturday, August 24, of herself and Kelly on a bus with the rest of the cheer team heading to their first-ever game, where Dallas faced off against the Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium. The two cheerleaders starred in the first season of America’s Sweethearts, which chronicled the cheer team’s 2023-2024 season from auditions all the way to the end of the NFL season.
“COMING TO YOU LIVE BUSSIN TO OUR FIRST GAME 🥹🥹🥹💙💙💙⭐️⭐️⭐️🏈🏈🏈 #dallascowboyscheerleaders #americassweethearts,” Charly captioned her video, which showed her and Kelly cheering with two yellow roses, set to the song “If I Was a Cowboy” by Miranda Lambert.
Kelly and Charly, who had been the final person cut the previous season, made the 2024-2025 team alongside Reece Allman and Anna Kate Sunvold, along with 10 other rookies and 24 veterans.
Charly shared the news that she had made the 2024-2025 squad via Instagram on July 24. “I AM A DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADER,” she captioned her post. “💙Wow. I have never worked harder for something in my life.”
@charly.barby COMING TO YOU LIVE BUSSIN TO OUR FIRST GAME 🥹🥹🥹💙💙💙⭐️⭐️⭐️🏈🏈🏈 #dallascowboyscheerleaders #americassweethearts
♬ If I Was a Cowboy – Miranda Lambert
She added, “I genuinely feel that from the bottom of my heart. This has been the most rewarding, life-changing & amazing challenge I have ever put my all into.”
Continuing her post, Charly explained that “becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader has been the furthest thing from easy, but the best thing I’ve ever encountered.”
“This dream has meant everything to me for so long and achieving it has been the first & last thought on my mind every day for years,” she wrote. “I would never change being cut last year for the world. It has brought me so many blessings and has made making the team this year the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had.”
Kelly, who became a fan favorite during the first season of America’s Sweethearts, announced that she had made the Dallas Cowboys cheer squad on July 25 via Instagram. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to process the fact that my lifelong dream has come true,” she wrote. The New Jersey native notoriously dyed her hair from blonde to brunette for the show’s makeover episode, but was cut from the team anyway.
“It is an absolute honor and privilege to dance alongside such amazing women and to be a part of such an incredible organization,” she wrote last month. “Grateful is an understatement.”
