Game Over: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Ending 16-Season TV Run
DALLAS - The Dallas Cowboys announced Thursday night that the hit show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team is ending its run on CMT after 16 seasons. The show first debuted in 2005 and is CMT's most-popular and longest-running TV show.
Don't fret, the stories of the squad will continue on a new platform and, according to the team, negotiations on a new partnership are ongoing.
The success of DCC is undeniable. "America's Sweethearts" are an international brand, so much so that the star-spangled uniform hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
“We could never have anticipated the outpouring of admiration and support from our fans and friends over the 16 Seasons on CMT’s Making the Team,” said Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Director Kelli Finglass. “The global impact on our brand and the beautiful journeys of amazing performers and teammates have been amazing."
In an exclusive interview with Finglass before the final season of the reality show on CMT, we spoke about if she dreamed that the show was going to be so wildly successful?
"No, (when it started) I hardly knew what a pilot TV show was," Finglass said. "My vision was to show people what our auditions were like, kind of what used to be the talent portion of a pageant so people could see all the great solos and dancers. I could never have imagined how the backstories filled out an entire season. I never could have imagined the interest level."
In my interview (videos below) with Finglass, the East Texas native also divulged what it is like to work for "visionary" Jerry Jones, what happens when the cameras turn off and her best advice to aspiring dancers who want to join DCC..
