Two months on from America's Sweethearts, Victoria Kalina's life looks very different.

There's a lot to digest in the Netflix docuseries America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, but most viewers' immediate takeaway was: Victoria Kalina deserves the goddamn world.

In the series, Victoria was introduced as a fourth-year cheerleading veteran who happens to be one of a handful of legacy cheerleaders. Her mother Tina was also a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader (DCC) for four years in the '80s. 

But what sets Victoria apart in the seven-part series is how candid she is about her more vulnerable sides. Victoria speaks candidly about her history of mental health struggles and disordered eating, along with detailing how her issues of perfectionism have weighed on her throughout her time at DCC, which was a lifetime dream of hers growing up.

Watch the trailer for the Netflix series. Post continues after video.

The series ended with Victoria saying she would be back next year to try out again, but in a final update before the credits rolled, Netflix revealed Victoria had since decided to hang up her cowboy boots and retire. 

So what do we actually know about Victoria and where is she now? We're diving deep into America's Sweethearts most fascinating subject.

Why Victoria retired from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Since the show aired, Victoria has elaborated on her decision to quit DCC. 

"I was fully ready to step into season five for my veteran year," she told Glamour UK in an interview from July. 

"I had my audition song ready to go. I had my trip planned for choreography. I had everything set and ready. I had my costume designed. It was all on track. That conversation [with Kelli and Judy], it just hit me like a bullet I wasn't expecting. I feel like I got blindsided by that conversation, honestly." 

Despite telling the DCC heads she planned to reaudition, Victoria reconsidered after taking some time to think. 

"I took the weekend to process... You never want to react to something too soon. So I just sat with it, really thought about pros and cons, and then that's when I came back to telling the camera I wasn't going to return."

What Victoria is up to now since retiring from Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. 

The DCC veteran may have grown up in Texas, but she just set off for a city change: to the bright lights of New York City.

"This Southern belle Dallas girl is about to hit the steps and go full throttle with dance training in the concrete jungle," she told Glamour UK. "I feel like since I went straight from high school to the Cowboys, this is my time that I’m finally going away for college, but for life now."

Victoria has her sights set on NYC. Image: Instagram/@victoriakalina. 

And she has a new dream she wants to live out: becoming one of the Radio City Rockettes. 

"There's so many dance opportunities up there, and I have always admired the Radio City Rockettes," she said.

"They are absolutely fabulous and so precise in their movements. When you're a dancer, you're always wanting to be a Rockette."

In a new interview with The Cut, Victoria spoke further about how becoming a Rockette had been a lifelong dream, aside from being a member of the DCC. 

"I’ve always said ‘Mum, I want to be a star. I want to be up on Times Square," she recalled. "Every time I watch them [the Rockettes], I get chills, if not cry… That’s where I want to be."

Victoria has enlisted the help of a former Rockette to help her train for the audition to become part of Radio City Music Hall history. 

When she isn't training in NYC, she teaches private and group dance classes to teenagers and young women.

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A post shared by Victoria Kalina (@victoriakalina)

Aside from her career as a professional dancer, Victoria also has another bucket list item to tick off: she wants to start dating New York men. "Oh goodness. Is it silly? I'm excited to date," she joked with Glamour.

"DCC is so time-consuming, where I didn't want to put that effort into dating when I was a cheerleader because you just never knew when an appearance would come up or when a special show would come up... my whole life I 'dated' DCC. I'm excited to find that time in my new routine, new schedule, new life in New York City to go out with girls, to go out and about and meet some people."

Victoria's introduction on Making The Team.

Victoria was first introduced to viewers on the reality TV show, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, a series that aired on US network CMT for 16 seasons from 2006 until it was axed in 2022. 

Like the Netflix series, the long-running reality show followed 36 cheerleaders from the first day of auditions through to the grueling boot camps before the coveted spots on the team were awarded. 

Victoria made her debut in season 13 when she was an 18-year-old senior in high school. At the end of the season, she was cut from the team in an emotional scene that went viral online. 

She returned in season 14 and this time, Victoria made the team.

"Last year, getting cut, it was definitely a time where I was questioning whether or not I'm worthy enough," she said on the show. "Going through the first audition process, to getting cut, to getting back into training camp, and finally putting on this uniform and having it be mine was totally all worth it." 

Victoria's breakout role in America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Victoria started the Netflix series as a veteran but because of the hectic rules, she had to reaudition to be part of the 2023 squad. At first, it looked like Victoria could have been cut early as she made mistakes in her first audition, but she eventually made it through to boot camp and then scored a spot on the final squad of 36. 

Throughout her time on the series, Victoria discussed her struggles with an eating disorder and depression during her time in DCC, revealing she took a 'gap year' between seasons to focus on her mental health. 

"My depression, like, it turns into this bad cycle," she admitted. 

"Whenever I get into a bad depression, I turn to bad coping skills, which causes bad eating habits. And as a dancer, the hardest thing you can fight are eating disorders plus depression." 

An interesting dynamic plays out in the series between Victoria and director Kelli Finglass and lead choreographer Judy Trammell, the DCC decision-makers she's known since childhood. The season culminates in Victoria telling the women that if she were to audition the following year, she would hope to progress in the team to a more senior position, but Kelli and Judy pour cold water over her aspirations. 

Victoria and mother, Tina. Image: Instagram/@victoriakalina.

Where Victoria Kalina stands with Kelli Finglass and Judy Trammell. 

In her chat with The Cut, Victoria has some interesting thoughts to share about her relationship with DCC director, Kelli Finglass, and head choreographer, Judy Trammell. She claims that she felt isolated on the team, as depicted in the Netflix series, due to the frosty relationship she had with the two women. 

"It started from the top with Kelli and Judy," she says. "They kind of had their distance with me because of our family relationships and everything. And so the girls also had that."

She recalled an awkward moment when she and the other DCC dancers gathered at the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters to preview America’s Sweethearts together. In one scene, Finglass and Trammell make unkind comments about Kalina, disparaging her dance technique and lack of friendships on the team, prompting Victoria to leave the screening.

"I’m trying to bring what I think is my best for you and it's just being totally degraded," she reflected. "I'm just kind of embarrassed that I allowed myself to let the organisation affect me that way." 

Kelli Finglass on America's Sweethearts. Image: Netflix. 

When asked about her opinion of Kelli now, after a delayed response, she told The Cut she had "no comment." Kalina did note that she doesn’t plan on telling Kelli or Judy if she makes it into the Rockettes. 

"They can see it through posts and updates," Victoria said. "I do think I am thriving, and I do hope they see that. I think they do."

As far as her time with DCC, she hopes things get better for the next generation of women. 

"Their organisation is special in the way they make tradition super important," she told Glamour.

"Even from when my mom cheered in the '80s, we see that there's been change. There's been more pay, and there's been more publicity. There's been a CMT show. I think that it's just is going to take more time... but I think it’s going to eventually change just with time."

This article was originally published on July 3, 2024 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature image: Netflix. 

Continue reading about Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: 

• 'I had to stop watching the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders doco after the third episode.'
• Where are the cast of Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders now?
  
• This is the most prestigious thing you can do in cheerleading but all anyone can talk about is their pay.
  
• '10 infuriating thoughts I had while watching America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on Netflix.'
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