Why did Chandi Dayle leave the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders?
Season 2 of 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' is full of highs and lows for Chandi Dayle, the longest-running veteran of the iconic squad.
In the sophomore season of the Netflix docuseries, Dayle lands the role of first leader for her group. Episode 6 then throws viewers for a loop as Dayle suddenly disappears from the squad.
What caused the cheerleader to take a break from the group and did she ever return? We're unraveling one of Season 2's biggest mysteries, and what she's since said.
Who is Chandi Dayle?
Chandi Dayle, a sixth-year veteran of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) gets a lot of screen time during Season 2 of the Netflix docuseries as she tries out for and earns her spot on the 2024-2025 squad.
Per her DCC bio, Dayle has multiple jobs outside of cheerleading, working as a social media marketing specialist for a pediatric dentistry practice and a licensed pharmacy technician for her family's business. She also works at a Pilates studio and performs contract work for a DCC sponsor.
What does Chandi's love life have to do with anything?
In Episode 6, Dayle opened up about a prior abusive relationship, explaining that her ex-boyfriend misused alcohol and became emotionally and physically abusive on multiple occasions.
Dayle described her ex as a 'stalker' in the period after their breakup and said he threatened her new boyfriend.
Despite her efforts to file domestic violence, harassment and stalking police reports, Dayle said she had been unsuccessful in her attempts to obtain any form of meaningful protection from her ex.
The cheerleader said that her fear had taken a toll on the quality of her current relationship. Later on, Dayle announced that she and her boyfriend had broken up.
Why did Chandi take a leave of absence?
Episode 6 depicts the squad's trip to the Bahamas for a team retreat. By the time they returned, Dayle had taken a leave of absence.
According to Trammell and Finglass, Dayle took time off to address her 'mental health.' During Dayle's absence, KayDianna MacKenzie stepped in as first leader.
Speculation, meanwhile, ricocheted around the team.
'We all know something's going on and we're not getting any answers. No one's speaking about it as a whole so everything is just being whispered,' DCC squad member Jada Mclean said.
Dayle then appeared and addressed what happened in a confessional interview.
The cheerleader said she'd been 'struggling mentally' and has 'done bad things to myself before.'
What happened in the Bahamas?
Mclean ultimately summarized what happened in the Bahamas: Dayle brought 'somebody' into her room, upsetting some teammates. Other cheerleaders brought up that by doing so, Dayle broke a contractual policy.
'A lot of people were worried for their safety because they didn't know who this individual was. If that was me, I probably wouldn't want to be in a room with a stranger either,' she continued.
Still, Mclean was sensitive to what Dayle was feeling in the moment.
'To other people, it came off as, 'Oh my gosh, you put me in danger.' Or, 'You weren't worried about my safety.' But I don't think she thought of that in an almost just naïve way. She wasn't thinking about that at all. She was kind of thinking about what she needed at the time,' she said.
What did Chandi say about the incident?
Dayle recalled breaking up with her boyfriend and spiraling emotionally afterwards.
'When we took the trip to the Bahamas, I met someone and we shared similar things that have happened in our past. I was just like kind of crumbling down and I was like, 'Dang, I feel like I have no one here to talk to and so it's nice to have someone to confide in,'' she said.
Dayle admitted to breaking DCC protocol but says she was only thinking about needing a friend to listen to her, clarifying that it wasn't a hookup situation.
'It helped me in the moment. Like I get it, it was probably the wrong place and time to do that. But selfishly, I had to do it for me because I feel like I was just losing it,' she said to her friend.
She said that she has 'kind of checked (herself) out' during her time away from the squad and opens up about the pressures of being in such a demanding role.
'It's really hard to have all that pressure on you all the time. I don't really know who I am. DCC's not even happy for me anymore cause I don't know myself. And I feel like I've just reached that point where I feel like I'm making mistakes in my own life. And they expect you to wake up and be perfect every day. But I can't do it anymore. I really just wanted to dance and be happy and I just haven't been,' she said.
What happened when Chandi returned to the DCC squad?
Just in time for the end of the season, Dayle returned to the squad — but not as a team leader. She was met with mixed reactions.
'It affected some people more than others, but the way that those people didn't feel like they were being heard then affected the group more because a lot of people have kind of walked away from her. And that's not something you want, especially on a team this big,' Mclean said in a confessional interview.
While opening up about her return to the team, Dayle said it was 'really nice' not being a first leader anymore.
'Now I don't have to think about what I'm doing or what I'm calling or anything like that,' she said.
Mclean offered support for her teammate in an interview, saying, 'We've all done things that we shouldn't have done or been in situations that we shouldn't have been in. There's no time to sit and dwell in the past. We can sit here in this or we can move forward.'
Finglass applauded Dayle for doing 'a great job for the situation she's in' and acknowledged that it was 'very hard' for her to watch the cheerleader 'go through a low point.'
'I feel very motherly to her. She needs hugs and she needs love and she needs forgiveness. We're not gonna leave any of our children out in the cold,' she said.
Is Chandi still with the DCC?
Dayle has opted to move on from the squad.
'I think this year I found who I really am. I lost it for sure, was lost in who I really was, There was a long time where I was scared to just not be without dance because that was just me and that was my safe space. But I feel good,' she said while talking with her coaches about her decision.
Finglass said it would be a 'huge transition' without Dayle on the squad but wished her well.
Wait, what happened to KayDianna?
Remember when KayDianna MacKenzie stepped in for Chandi during her leave of absence? The season finale revealed she's no longer a member of the team.
Finglass called the decision MacKenzie's 'choice' and said it resulted from 'one conversation of honest feedback.'
Meanwhile, MacKenzie shared her own version of the story in a confessional interview.
'Bahamas happened. I stepped into leadership. I definitely didn't feel supported. I felt like I was just a body. It was as if Chandi got the perks of being a first leader and I got the responsibility part of it,' she said.
The cheerleader went on to say she and her teammates were 'confused' and didn't know 'what was going to happen' next.
Then, one day, MacKenzie's was on TikTok Live and some of her followers started asking about the Bahamas incident. Although she didn't name Dayle directly, MacKenzie did say she'd record a video one day to explain what happened.
'Of course someone screen-recorded it and put it on Reddit. They blew it up. I didn't even talk about Chandi, never said Chandi's name. And then I got a call from staff. They said that I was under investigation for being a bully and harassing and I was officially suspended at that point,' she said.
At that point, MacKenzie's decided to step away from the organization and 'respect' herself. Still, she said having to miss the squad banquet was a letdown.
'Even though it was a tough year, I still wanted to be there for my rookies. I still wanted to celebrate this year,' she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Popular Netflix film spin-off thrown into chaos as cast and crew are hit with illness during overseas shoot
A popular Netflix spin-off has reportedly been plunged into chaos after cast and crew were struck down with food poisoning. Production on Sherlock Holmes spin-off Enola Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown, had moved from Shepperton Studios to Malta for its final weeks of filming. However, things came to a screeching halt after members of the team fell ill due to suspected dodgy catering, according to The Sun. The unexpected setback has delayed the shoot, causing pressure on the team to hit the deadlines. A source told the publication: 'It's a nightmare because these productions run to such tight schedules and filming had to be stopped. 'There were a fair few affected and it meant everything had to grind to a halt until they got better. 'It ended up being a bout of food poisoning which is just really unfortunate. Luckily it wasn't anything too serious and everyone recovered but it put pressure on them in terms of hitting deadlines.' Earlier this year, Millie Bobby Brown confirmed she would be returning as Enola Holmes, the younger sister of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Henry Cavill is back as Sherlock, with Himesh Patel returning as Dr. Watson, and Louis Partridge reprising his role as Enola's love interest, Viscount Tewkesbury. Helena Bonham Carter returns as Eudoria Holmes, while Sharon Duncan-Brewster continues to portray the villainous Moriarty. Production kicked off earlier this year for the third season, with Netflix targeting a late 2025 release. Plot details are under wraps but it will reportedly be a darker iteration than the previous two instalments. In the movie, the youngest member of the Holmes family goes off in search of her missing mother, even as her more famous brothers try to thwart her investigation. The film was originally planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros., but it was picked up by Netflix in April amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Speaking about the second sequel in a statement for Deadline, leading lady Millie said: 'I can't wait to collaborate again with my Enola Holmes family! 'Enola holds a special place in my heart – she's strong, fearless, intelligent and brave. I look forward to fans seeing how her journey continues!' Millie previously revealed that she 'found it really challenging being British' in the role after five years in the American Netflix series Stranger Things. The actress, who grew up in Dorset, England, and settled in Florida with her family to pursue her acting career aged eight, said she 'had to learn how to speak again'. Speaking to Radio Times, she said: 'For the last five years I've been playing an American character in Stranger Things and I found it really challenging being British in this, even though I am a Brit. 'I had to learn how to speak again because I'm so used to speaking in an American accent.'
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Style, wit and pace: Netflix's Dept. Q reviewed
Can you imagine how dull a TV detective series set in a realistic Scottish police station would be? Inspector Salma Rasheed would have her work cut out that's for sure: the wicked gamekeeper on the grisly toff's estate who murdered a hen harrier and then blamed its decapitation on an innocent wind turbine; the haggis butcher who misgendered his vegetarian assistant; the Englishman who made a joke on Twitter about a Scotsman going to the chippy and ordering a deep-fried can of Coke… It would get lots of awards, obviously, but I doubt it would do that well in the ratings. But you needn't worry about Dept. Q (Netflix). Though it is set in a police station in Edinburgh it bears about as much relation to contemporary Scotland, Scottish policing or indeed Edinburgh as, say, Midsomer Murders does to real-life English villages. Perhaps this is because – based on a novel by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen and originally set in Copenhagen – it derives from the Scandi-noir genre where every other person in the bleak, washed-out countryside and pullulatingly corrupt modern metropolis is either a bent City bigwig, an occultic serial killer – who wears antlers on his head while drawing runic symbols in blood – or the disturbed victim of some Terrible Family Secret that will only be unravelled after a series of long car and ferry journeys to remote islands where no one wants to answer questions. Our hero is DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), whose statutory unique quirks are that he's stupidly clever, incredibly grumpy and deeply traumatised having been shot in the head by the same masked gunman who crippled his colleague (and only friend) DCI James Hardy (Jamie Sives). Everyone hates him; he hates everyone in return; but you'd definitely want him solving your case, even if it's impossible, such as the one he's investigating here. I feel bad about describing it because it might give away the game about the rather ingenious temporal device that furnishes the first episode with its satisfying final twist. (Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want it spoiled.) Essentially, a woman barrister (Chloe Pirrie) has gone missing on a ferry and her case has been closed because there were no leads or witnesses and she is presumed dead. In actual fact though – oh, the horror! – she has spent the last four years imprisoned in what looks like the metal hull of a ship, where she is psychologically and physically tortured by a vicious old woman and her sidekick who bear her some-as-yet-undisclosed grudge. See what I mean about our being in Scandi-noir territory? This is the sort of crime almost no one ever commits in real life because even if they had the motive the logistics would be just too complicated. That's why, having hit you with this bizarre and deeply implausible scenario, the rest of the book/TV adaptation has to work so frantically hard to provide you with the convoluted psychological and organisational rationale necessary to persuade you that this hasn't all been a huge waste of your time and credulity. Not that I'm really complaining by the way. Just like with Slow Horses – whose set up this resembles quite a lot – Dept. Qisn't really about the tortured MacGuffin of a plotline but about enjoying the company of loveable misfits. Besides Goode's adorably hateful antihero detective, these include: Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), a deceptively gentle soul who used to be in the Syrian secret police; DCI Hardy (now bedbound but at least if he can still help solve crimes it might suppress his urge to kill himself); DC Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne), with her big red hair, bright red lipstick and mental-health issues. They work together in a dingy basement, forgotten since the 1970s, and, handily, have a decent budget because the cabinet secretary has apparently decided that it's good for optics if there's a dedicated department for solving cold cases. All the other characters are, of course, similarly messed up. The missing woman's brother William (Tom Bulpett) has mental-health issues on account of having had his head stoven in by a mysterious hammer attacker; Kelly Macdonald's Dr Rachel Irving – aka meet-cute love interest – has been off men ever since jilting her bigamist husband at the altar; Morck's teenage stepson wears a mask and plays death metal at full volume while playing video games, etc. Yes, the crime bits are bit warped, morbid and voyeuristic (for my tastes anyway), but the cast are great, and it's adapted and directed with such verve, style, wit and pace by Scott Frank, you can hardly not enjoy it – nor wish they'd get a move on with Season Two.
NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders successfully lobby for a pay raise
After decades of performing for one of the NFL's most valuable franchises while earning less-than-glamorous wages, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have secured a 400% pay raise. The wage increase is revealed at the conclusion of the second season of 'America's Sweethearts,' the hit Netflix docuseries that follows the iconic team of dancers from auditions to the end of the NFL season. The series, which debuted its second season Wednesday, chronicled the cheerleaders' push for better pay, putting a renewed spotlight on compensation issues that have long plagued NFL cheerleading squads. 'We're pleased, as you'll see in the series, that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were happy with the outcome,' Tad Carper, the Cowboys' senior vice president of communications, said in a statement. The show does not disclose the new wages taking effect next season, nor does it reveal the cheerleaders' current wages. The Cowboys' statement did not disclose the exact pay amount, and a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. According to the cheerleaders' website, they are paid for rehearsals, home games, promo appearances and shows. Jada McLean, who retired from the squad after having led the effort to secure higher pay, told The New York Times that she made $15 an hour and $500 for each appearance last year, based on experience. After the pay raise, she said, veteran cheerleaders could soon make more than $75 an hour. The massive fan reaction to the Netflix show after its debut last year helped bring a discussion around pay equity to the forefront, with many viewers questioning why the cheerleaders' salaries were so low. The Cowboys cheerleaders — along with other NFL cheerleading teams across the country — have continued to face fan scrutiny over the years for their low pay even though they contribute skilled labor and risk injury and are prominent faces of the Cowboys' brand. In 2018, former cheerleader Erica Wilkins filed a class action lawsuit against the Cowboys that resulted in a pay increase in 2019, from $8 to $12 per hour and from $200 to $400 per game. Wilkins, who cheered for the Cowboys from 2014 to 2017, claimed in her lawsuit that she sometimes made less than minimum wage and that the cheerleaders were paid less than the Cowboys' mascot. The topic of low wages was briefly broached in the first season of the show, when former cheerleader Kat Puryear compared her yearly pay to that of 'a Chick-fil-A worker who works full-time.' NFL football players, in contrast, average salaries of millions of dollars a year. In the last year, several of the dancers who became Season One fan favorites were propelled to online fame, allowing them to transition into more lucrative social media influencer careers part-time. But many of the dancers struggle as they juggle full-time jobs while they are on the squad, a narrative that is further explored in Season Two. 'We got our contracts and probably wrongly assumed that it maybe would have been different, just because of everything that was on TV,' veteran cheerleader Kylie Dickson says on the show. 'The world was kind of telling us, 'Girls, fight for more.'' Charlotte Jones, the Cowboys' executive vice president and chief brand officer, also acknowledged the cheerleaders' pay, noting that it has drawn criticism before. 'There's a lot of cynicism around pay for NFL cheerleaders, as it should be,' Jones says in an episode of the show. 'They're not paid a lot. But the facts are they actually don't come here for the money. They come here for something that's actually bigger than that to them.' Kelli Finglass and Judy Trammell, the cheerleaders' director and head choreographer, respectively, have said on the show that the fact that the dancers have outside careers is what helps make them even more special. Throughout the second season, team members use the momentum from the show's buzz to their advantage. They decide to push for better pay for the entire team and meet with franchise staff members before the season begins. But as the season begins, the conversation is tabled, and several of the dancers express their disappointment when their contract for the 2024-25 season includes no pay raise. It is not until the finale when cheerleader Megan McElaney says the team has finally been granted raises for the coming season — a change that solidified her decision to try out for another year. 'Dancers are athletes. They have so much value,' McElaney says, later adding that the news of the raises felt 'kind of felt like a relief, like everything had paid off.' 'Finally, we were done fighting.'
