A Hobart dancer has been selected as one of just 64 finalists vying for a spot on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad.
Lilah Harding, 19, will travel to Texas next week for a live audition at the Dallas Cowboys headquarters after advancing through two online rounds that drew thousands of applicants from around the world.
She is the only Australian through to the finals.
The global profile of the Cowboys cheerleaders has surged following three seasons of the Netflix series America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, with rumours circulating that a fourth season will be filmed this year.
If a new season goes ahead, Netflix cameras will be there when Harding arrives for the finals.
Harding said the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders had been on her bucket list for a while, and making the finals on her first attempt exceeded her own expectations.
“It was my first try, and like already making it this far is more than I really thought I could do,” she told Pulse.
“Whatever happens from here, like just getting to go to Texas and dance in front of them is like incredible.”
“To get the job would just be a dream come true really.”
The audition process kicked off on April 25 when global online applications opened, requiring candidates to submit a one-minute video.
A second round followed, with applicants learning a three-minute routine and recording an introduction.
Now Harding faces the biggest day of her dance career so far.
“Basically it’s just on a Saturday, and the process is 8:15 we check into the Star in Frisco, which is the Dallas Cowboys headquarters,” she said.
“We have a minute thirty just to dance for your life, basically, a minute thirty solo each.”
From there, finalists will perform three pre-learned routines on the football field before finding out that evening whether they’ve made it to training camp, an intensive four-week selection process to determine the final team.
Only six spots are currently available on the squad.
Harding grew up in Bellerive and attended the Friends School, training at the House of Dance from the age of four before moving to the Gold Coast in 2023 to study dancing full-time.
Two weeks after turning 18, she landed her first professional contract with Royal Caribbean International, performing aboard the Serenade of the Seas across Alaska, the US, South America and the Caribbean during a 10-month stint.
She has also cheered for the Brisbane Bullets during the 2024-25 NBL season and performed once for the Tasmanian JackJumpers in December 2023.
She said to land a job with the Cowboys in the NFL would be unlike anything else available for a dancer.
“It’s probably one of, you know, the best dance jobs there is out there,” she said.
“It’s like America’s team really.”
