Where Is Megan McElaney Now? What She's Doing After Her Emotional Exit from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Where Is Megan McElaney Now? What She's Doing After Her Emotional Exit from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Emily BlackwoodFri, June 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Megan McElaney of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California; Megan McElaney in April 2026.Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty; Megan McElaney/Instagram -
Megan McElaney retired from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders after five seasons, ending her run in 2026
She launched the Side Kicks Podcast with her brother Sean, a professional dancer at Radio City Music Hall
Outside of cheerleading, McElaney has worked as a marketing specialist and bridal makeup artist
Megan McElaney has said goodbye to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
After cheering with DCC for five years, the veteran candidate retired at the end of the 2025-26 National Football League season. McElaney teased that her time was coming to an end when she announced that she had made the team.
"'The end is near, and so I face the final curtain,' " she wrote on Instagram in July 2025. "Cheers to making my dream team for my fifth season! Couldn't be more grateful to do it along side my best friends! That's all for now before I start crying😭🥺🤍."
McElaney has appeared in America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Netflix's docuseries about DCC, since the beginning. During the third season's finale, she told coaches Kelli Finglass and Judy Trammell that she had put her all into her farewell season.
"Knowing it was going to be my last year, I just wanted to give you guys everything that you deserved," she said before handing back her uniform.
So, where is Megan McElaney now? Here's everything to know about her life since retiring from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
McElaney was on the DCC for five years and featured on two docuseries
Kleine, Lea and Megan in 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' season 3Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
McElaney joined the DCC in 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile. She wrote in her bio for the team that she wasn't ready to give up her dancing career after college and "had to go big!"
During her DCC run, McElaney appeared in seasons 1, 2 and 3 of America's Sweethearts as well as season 16 of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
"Everything I had worked for my entire life led me to that moment," she told San Diego State University Alumni in February 2025. "This team gave me the opportunity to take a leap of faith, start my own life in another state, and write my own story."
Megan continued, "All those years of sacrifice paid off, and I could show the world that I was so much more than a girl who liked to dance."
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She split from her boyfriend while filming season 3
Alex and Megan in 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' season 2Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
During the season 3 finale of America's Sweethearts, McElaney revealed that she and her longtime boyfriend, Alex Blaszyk, had broken up.
"Because I know this job is so demanding of our time, I felt that I wasn't there enough for him," she said in the docuseries. "But also, I think I lost myself along the way. I literally thought he was my person and everything."
She previously shared her plan to do a fifth season
Reece and Megan in 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' season 3Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
In season 2, McElaney said that she wasn't sure whether she would come back after fighting for higher pay.
However, Dallas Cowboys executives agreed to a 400% pay increase for the 2025-2026 season.
By the end of the second installment, McElaney shared that she had plans to return and do a fifth season with DCC.
Most cheerleaders stay with the team for three to five seasons. Only a few, including Chandi Dayle, have stayed for six.
Where is Megan McElaney now?
Megan McElaney and her brother Sean McElaney in January 2026.Credit: Megan McElaney/Instagram
Since retiring from the DCC, McElaney launched the Side Kicks Podcast with her brother in May 2026.
Sean McElaney — who is also a professional dancer at Radio City Music Hall, according to his Instagram bio — and his sister use the platform to discuss their career highs and lows.
Though she's worked as a marketing specialist and bridal makeup artist outside of the DCC, she left her marketing position at a financial firm in 2025, per her LinkedIn profile.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
