I was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and THIS is the real truth behind the toxic culture on the team

It’s no secret that making the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad is one of the toughest gigs in the entertainment industry.

The elite team of 36, who have long been dubbed America’s Sweethearts, come from all over the world to uproot their lives to Texas, where the expectation placed on them is perfection – and then some.

The new Netflix series, ‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,’ from famed sports documentarian Greg Whiteley, loopaints a portrait of dancers who have the weight of a $5bn business on their shoulders with very little to show for it.

Not only are they expected to perform impossibly high kicks and their infamous jump splits known for resulting in serious, long-term injury, they’re also role models for little girls, eye candy for the fans in the stands, and everything in between.

Now, speaking to Mail Sport on the condition of anonymity, one ex-DCC member has lifted the lid on the ‘dark side’ of the ‘toxic’ environment, in which the dancers are treated poorly and viewed as ‘expendable’.