Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Director Kelli Finglass Addresses the Conversation on Body Image
Content warning: This story discusses eating disorders and depression.
For Victoria Kalina, being a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader came with a harrowing cost.
The fourth-year veteran reflected on how she struggled deeply with her mental health and body image while on the team.
“I’ve never been open about it, but my depression turns into this bad cycle,” Victoria explained on Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docuseries. “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.”
“I go through the cycle when that depression zone hits,” she continued. “It’s a binge-purge cycle. It’s a binge to get that feel-good, that empty feeling filled again. But then game time comes, so then you gotta get into those baby clothes, get into that baby uniform, and that cycle just keeps going.”
