America’s Sweethearts: Life after the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

“I definitely don’t think we should earn anywhere near as much as football players,” she tells the BBC.

“But I believe that these organizations have enough money.

“We like to say it’s a part-time job with full-time commitment. Besides the hours of practice, you also have to get ready two hours beforehand and have your hair and makeup done.

“It’s also about finding time to exercise during the day to keep you in shape, not just physically, but to make sure you can follow through with the routines.”

She adds: “Ultimately, we would all do it for free because we love it and it’s our passion, but at the end of the day, it’s a job and they treat it as a job and so I think we should be paid a little bit better for the work we do – but we’re getting there.”

The series also addresses the mental health of the dancers.

Victoria Kalina, who has been on the team for four years and has since left the team, spoke about her struggles with depression and eating disorders during her time on the team.

“I applaud Victoria for being brave enough to talk about it because it’s a sensitive issue and it’s hard to talk about and we all feel the same way,” Ariana says.

To cope with the pressure of training, Ariana began keeping a journal and seeing a therapist.

However, she believes that NFL cheerleaders should be offered sports therapy to help others.

“My therapist was great, but she’s not a dancer and she wasn’t an athlete,” she explains, “so just giving the girls some tools to talk to would be really helpful.”

A DCC spokesperson told the BBC that all cheerleaders, like the football players, have access to “immediate, independent and confidential support resources.”

“Just like our Cowboys players, they also have access to our dedicated team of mental health and wellbeing counselors if needed.”

The women portrayed in the series received praise from viewers and television critics for the way they met high expectations.

“America’s Sweethearts is a disturbing series on many levels, but the resilience of the women it portrays is impressive,” says the Guardian.

Emma Beddington wrote that there was “a lot to be horrified about” in the series, including the physical strain on crew members, the “abysmal pay” and “the objectification.”

Judy Berman of Time magazine wrote, “At best, they are athletes working at the top of their sport; at worst, they are victims of a job market, a form of entertainment and a society in which misogyny is so deeply ingrained that it is often reinforced by the women it oppresses.”

Jessica Grose wrote in the New York Times: “If there is another season of the Netflix series, perhaps a more complete picture of the Cowboys cheerleading experience could force this elite institution to evolve and lead more of these talented women to conclude that making the team is not worth the cost.”

For Ariana, the experience ended when she was kicked out of training camp on the last day.

She only found out why she was thrown out of the team when she watched the show “at the same time as everyone else.”

In the emotional conversation with director Kelli Finglass and choreographer Judy Trammel, Ari was told, without much further explanation, that she was being thrown out because there were only 36 places available.

But earlier, Jones – the team’s vice president and daughter of owner Jerry – had told Kelli and Judy that Ariana’s 5’2″ height made her look like a “little girl” and she was being “left behind” on the team.

“I found out details I didn’t know,” she tells BBC News.

“And I think it helped me not to blame myself so much and not to judge myself so harshly – knowing that it is the only thing God has given me and that I cannot change or fix it.”

There is no size limit for the team. The guidelines simply state that there are no height or weight requirements and that women are expected to “appear well-proportioned in dance attire.”

It was an emotional moment for Ariana, as she had also been excluded from the training camp the year before.