Cheerleading is a way of life in the south, so it’s no surprise that Reese Witherspoon spent some time on the squad during her days at Harding Hall School in Nashville. She recently bragged about it on her Instagram page, so we got to see her talents in full force.
She posted her picture with the caption, “Say hi to little, cheerleader Reese! #TBT.” The actress has certainly come a long way since then, but we can still see the perky, happy-go-lucky, all-smiles cheerleader underneath! Maybe that’s also where she gets her amazing sense of style.
Before she became super famous, Chrissy Teigen wasn’t afraid to share the spotlight with her fellow teammates. The actress attended school in Snohomish, Washington, where she was part of the cheer team. She recalled throwing her pom-poms around when she was watching Netflix’s documentary Cheer one night.
That’s not all, though! She also recalled how she “sucked at doing her eyebrows.” To be fair, most of our brows looked pretty bad (and beyond thin) back then. Maybe cheering is where she got all of her immense sass and attitude? To this day, Teigen says she remembers her mat cheers.
Queen B ruled Constance, but Blake was the one who really had things going on in high school. We honestly can’t imagine having someone like Blake Lively on your cheer squad, especially when she seemed pretty strong to lift another girl up? She posted a picture of herself in cheer squad saying, “I’ve always been impressively athletic.”
Seems like it! That wasn’t even all. Blake Lively had a full schedule during her high school years in Burbank, California. On top of all her cheering activities, she also served as class president. Was there anything this actress couldn’t do?! Now she’s married to none other than Ryan Reynolds.
Halle Berry showed off her amazing body in Cat Woman (the only good thing about the movie), and it was clear she had some sports in her past. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that this little kitty cat was a cheerleader. Before she was the star she is today, Halle Berry spent her youth in Bedford, Ohio.
Berry happily shook her pom-poms, but she has plenty of accomplishments under her belt from high school. She was also a prom queen, editor of the school newspaper, and an honors student. How did she find time to hone her acting skills? After attending Cuyahoga Community College, Berry entered a number of beauty pageants.
(Image via Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library; Wikipedia)
Mandy Moore is an American Sweetheart. It’s not a huge shocker that she was also a cheerleader! This Princess Diaries star was a Pop Warner cheerleader. When she went on The Late Late Show, she happily talked about her pom-pom times. She was “passionate” and “loud,” but she had to make the choice between cheering and singing.
Doing both could have blown out her vocal cords, so she chose singing. That doesn’t mean she forgot her cheers. During The Late Late Show, she actually performed one of her dances! Honestly, Mandy Moore is much better at acting than she was at cheerleading or singing, so we’re glad she chose that path.
You got that right! The former president of the United States George W. Bush cheered his way through high school. Can you imagine having a future president on your cheer team? He went to high school at the preparatory school Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He would graduate in the late ‘60s.
His cheerleading didn’t end there, though! When he enrolled at Yale University, he would also cheer there and join Delta Kappa Epsilon, serving as the president of the fraternity during his senior year. This ex-Commander in Chief had a lot of school spirit to show off. In 1968, he graduated from Yale.
Sandra Bullock's cheerleading days might be long behind her, but that doesn’t mean she’s forgotten them. She cheered at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington Virginia, and she revealed in 2015 that she still has her uniform. Always keeping herself busy, Bullock also performed in her school’s theater productions until 1982, when she graduated.
Five years later in 1987, Bullock would appear in her first movie, Hangmen. Not too long after, she would start appearing in huge hits like Speed, Miss Congeniality, and Blind Side. In fact, the latter earned Bullock her first Oscar! Funny, dramatic, and athletic – this actress can do it all.
Sally Field has come a long way in her career. It spans over 50 years, and that’s impressive in and of itself. If you look back on all the awards she’s won, it may be surprising to know that she started out her life cheering at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California! After graduating high school, cheerleading was over.
She started appearing on TV shows as early as 1965. The show she appeared in wasn’t a success, but Fields? It was clear she was gonna be a contender. ABC brought her on to The Flying Nun, and the rest is history. Now, she’s one of the most accomplished actors that has ever graced the silver screen.
Samuel L. Jackson? The guy that appeared in Pulp Fiction and the Marvel franchise was actually a cheerleader. Before he was fighting snakes on a plane, Samuel Jackson spent some surprising time on his college’s cheer team. And why did the actor want to be a cheerleader? To meet women, of course!
He went onto the Graham Norton Show and admitted he did it all for the ladies. He’s quoted as saying, “I had megaphones and just called out to the girls who then danced. I went to an all-boys school, and I was the only volunteer to be a cheerleader that year.” It’s a little funny that he actually met his wife in his drama classes (and not cheerleading).
Today, Kathy Lee Gifford can easily hold an audience’s attention on TV, but it wasn’t always that way. Recently, Gifford released the fact that she was a cheerleader! Taking a trip down memory lane on the Today Show, she talked about how she used to be a lot more flexible when she cheered on her high school team.
Back when she attended Bowie High School in Maryland, she and her team were “number one” – Kathy’s words, not ours. She took cheering very seriously. From the pictures she showed, her daughter looks almost exactly like her. We wonder if her daughter will follow in her footsteps in more than one way.
Surprised to see Eva Longoria strip down to a cheerleading outfit in Netflix’s Game On: A Comedy Crossover? You shouldn’t be! Longoria was a hugely popular cheerleader back in the day – that explains why she perfectly rocked the Dallas Cowboys uniform. In Corpus Christi, she was known as a happy cheerleader.
Things didn’t stop there! When she moved to attend Texas A&M University, she grabbed her pom-poms once again. That’s probably how she kept her killer bikini body. She still remembers some of her routines. Now, she’s more popular for Desperate Housewives, but she’ll always be a cheerleader to us.
Amy Poehler is one of the best female comedians we’ll ever see, but before she made America laugh, she was energizing crowds at football games. Turns out being a funny cheerleader really helps. She was part of the team in her hometown of Burlington, Massachusetts when she attended Burlington High School.
She would wield her pom-poms from 1986 until 1989 when she would put them down to attend Boston College. Here, she would pursue a degree in communications. That wasn’t her jam, either, because she moved to Chicago and began to improve her comedic skills. We’re thankful she finally found her niche.
Someone as pretty as Megan Fox had to be a cheerleader. Before her teenage acting career started, she cheered her high school team on. Fox was born in Tennessee, but her life didn’t really become all about cheer until she moved to Florida. There, she attended Morningside Academy in Port St. Lucie. Turns out, it was good and bad.
While she was a member of the cheer squad, Fox was also bullied. We can see why she wanted to leave now. Before she knew it, she would begin acting in 2001 and would appear in many huge hits including starring in the Transformers series and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen alongside Lindsey Lohan.
We all remember Alicia Silverstone best from back in the 2000s. While we loved her in Clueless, she starred in a ton of other hits like Candles on Bay Street, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and most recently, Last Survivors. That being said, the actress famously known for portraying Cher Horowitz (who didn’t have much school spirit) was a cheerleader!
Silverstone was born to British parents in San Francisco and cheered at San Mateo High School for the Bearcats. It wasn’t that big of a jump to think that this long blonde-haired, all-American beauty would become such a famous actress. Now, instead of playing the sarcastic teen, she’s the mother in shows like The Babysitters Club.
Steve Martin is one of the most accomplished actors in the history of film. He’s a great comedian and an even better banjo player, but did you know he also has some cheerleading hours under his belt? Martin was part of the cheer squad during his time at Garden Grove High School in California.
The comedian tried to write funny cheers for his squad to perform, but they weren’t really feeling that. They preferred to stick with the energizing type of cheering. Ever the class clown, Martin decided to follow his love of comedy and acting when he began attending Santa Anna College. By the time he made it to UCLA, he knew his theater was his thing.
Jessica Simpson is a Texas girl, so it’s no surprise that she was involved with cheerleading when she was young. Sports are king down there, and most people are involved in one way or another. Simpson went to Richardson North Junior High School in Texas – Go Vikings! Then, she went on to do the same for J.J. Pearce High School.
Apparently, Simpson wasn’t a huge fan of school. She dropped out at the age of 15 to pursue her singing career (and we all know how that went). She had impressed the then-Columbia Records exec Tommy Mottola, who signed her immediately. However, this happy ex-pom-pomer still loves sports and going to games.
We’re not surprised in the least bit that Paula Abdul was into cheerleading. She just has that type of personality and vibe, you know? Abdul is a little unique though. Most cheerleaders call it quits after high school or college at the very latest. But not Paula Abdul! She would go on to cheer professionally for the LA Lakers.
During her stint as a Laker Girl, she would become nominated as the head choreographer for the squad, and that’s when she really found her passion. Abdul traded her pom-poms for performing in a different way – as a musical artist. Now, she’s best known for taking a seat at the judge's table on American Idol.
Kelly Ripa famously grew up in New Jersey, and she showed an affinity for cheering at a young age. She was a dancer and cheerleader, especially when she attended Eastern Regional High School. Dabbling in other types of performance, her drama teacher, Jim Beckley, knew she would be a great actor. It was her true calling.
Ripa would go to college, but ultimately drop out so that she could move to New York City and become an actress. She landed her first role on All My Children, and that was just the start of a blossoming career. While it isn’t quite the same as acting in a film, she mostly loves hosting TV shows like Live with Kelly and Ryan.
Jenna Dewan was also a pretty huge cheerleader – she’s from Texas, so it’s pretty much expected! Cheerleading in the state is extremely serious and “very hardcore,” according to Jenna herself. She was what’s known as a flyer, meaning she was the person that would be thrown in the air. It was a lot of pressure.
Because it was a ton of pressure, Dewan claimed it wasn’t a lot of fun. She felt if something went wrong, it was blamed her on, despite the fact she was the one being thrown and caught. Despite this, she’s been known to appear in some cheerleading-related shows like Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal.
We all know Katie Couric was one of the most hard-hitting journalists of our age. She is the famous host of 60 Minutes and the global anchor for Yahoo! News. Before all that, she was a cheerleader at Yorktown High School in Virginia. She was awfully spirited and athletic. We’re sure she jazzed up the crowd.
While she was a high school student, she started an internship at a Washington D.C all-news radio station, WAVA. That was when she found out what she wanted to do with her life. In college, she served in several positions at the University of Virginia's award-winning daily newspaper, The Daily Cavalier.
Okay, okay. You got us here. Will Ferrell might not have been an actual cheerleader during his high school years, but he spent plenty of time on SNL portraying one. We’re gonna count that because it’s honestly not that much different. Ferrell and fellow cast member, Cheri Oteri, spent many a Saturday night cheering on the lesser-known sports at the fictional Spartan High School.
It also goes to note that some of the other SNL alumni were also cheerleaders. Maybe there’s some sort of link between being a comedian and being a good cheerleader. Gotta admit that leaving a great comedy show leaves you just as energized as a great (winning) football game would.
Fergie has some serious moves, so it’s no surprise that she was into cheerleading. She was part of the team at high school, Glen. A Wilson, in Hacienda Heights, California. This “lovely lady lumps” singer was more than just a cheerleader. She was also a straight-A student. You go, Fergie!
She wanted more from high school, so she began studying dance. Come 2003, she would replace the former Black Eyed Peas singer, Kim Hill, and helped create Elephunk which would bring us songs like “Where is the Love?” and “Shut Up.” Fergie admitted that her cheerleading background helped with her dancing on stage.
Wait, that’s Kathy Griffin?! She used to be a cheerleader? Yep! This controversial comedian makes headlines for the stuff that leaves her mouth, but she used to get everyone excited at football games. When she was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 17-year-old high school student at Oak Park and River Forest high school, she was a cheerleader.
Gotta admit that Griffin and her team had excellent posture and impeccable formation in this picture. It’s almost surprising how many comedians used to be cheerleaders. Today, Griffin stays out of the spotlight and is focusing on her health. Currently, she’s working on battling lung cancer, which was discovered in 2019.
Cheer debuting had a lot of people looking back on their early days when they wore their short skirts and boosted everyone’s morale. Cameron Diaz was also a cheerleader! Diaz attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California. Of course, this was when she was just a normal teenager.
It may not be a big jump from cheering to acting, but it really is! It’s a completely different set of skills. Now, she’s making huge life changes and even moving away from acting. This A-Lister isn’t afraid to spice up her life by doing something completely different. Who knows what’s in her future?
Diane Sawyer revealed that when she was a teenager, she felt overshadowed by her older sister. To break out and show everyone what she could do, she joined the cheer squad at Seneca High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Well, she certainly did show everyone that she was determined to be a star.
Being on the cheer squad helped Sawyer become more social and break out of her loner shell. Cheerleading was what brought Sawyer to our screens, as she toured with her team at the World’s Fair for three years! By 1978, she would appear on our TVs for the first time as the truth-seeking journalist she’s known to be today.
Ciara knows how to do the one-two step, and maybe that’s thanks to her time on the cheerleading squad. Actually, she wasn’t just on the team, she led them! Ciara loved everything about cheering – the dancing, the game, the energy, the excitement – she was there for all of it.
Needless to say, Ciara was great at cheerleading, but she had bigger dreams. She left the sidelines to become the famous artist she’s known to be today. Still, she couldn’t give up the game. She’s currently married to NFL Quarterback star Russel Wilson (who is pictured here as well). It’s hard to give up the game after you’ve gotten involved!
There are a lot of things people don’t know about this up-and-coming singer. She was born in Italy, she was a homecoming queen – oh – and she was a pretty great cheerleader! Despite being born in Vicenza, she grew up in several states thanks to her parent being a member of the military. That meant she went to schools in Iowa, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.
All those southern states meant she was destined to be a cheerleader. She graduated from Warner Robins High School in 2007 and put her uniform away to become a singer. She was initially rejected by most of the country labels in Tennessee, but thankfully, Mercury Records offered her a contract. Jessie Decker is also known for being Eric Decker’s wife (an NFL wide receiver).
Madonna is a musician that’s full of surprises – including her surprising time as a high school cheerleader. Before she was performing to sold-out audiences, she was helping rouse the fans at Adams High School in Rochester, Michigan. This Material Girl was more than just that, though. She was also a straight-A student.
Madonna would end up getting ga dance scholarship to the University of Michigan, but she ended up dropping out and moving to New York City in 1978. We’re sure some people thought it was a bad decision, but for Madonna? It was the best possible thing she could have done. She quickly became developing into a pop music icon.
Meryl Streep managed to do the impossible and bridge the gap between theater kids and cheerleaders in high school. We know, it’s honestly pretty rare that this kind of thing goes down since there’s almost always clique rivalry. During her time at Bernard’s High School, she was on the cheer team while also participating in several school plays.
Honestly, she looks nearly unrecognizable, but she’s admitted that it’s her. After leaving high school in 1966, she went to Vassar College in New York, and that’s when she found her love for acting. From there, she started starring in shows, and that’s when she caught everyone’s eye. It was expected that she would become the Oscar-winning actress she is today.
Always one to remember the good ‘ol days, Rashida Jones shared this picture of herself when she was a fired-up cheerleader. During an interview with Vanity Fair, she admitted that she was “that girl.” She was social, overachieving, and joined every club that would have her – and we really do mean every club.
Jones was a cheerleader, sure, but she was also a part of the math club, the National Honor Society, and was a self-labeled teacher’s pet. That kind of life seems a little exhausting, but it seems to have worked out well for Jones! Putting her pom-poms down, Jones is now known for being in shows like Parks and Recreation, Angie Tribeca, and #blackAF.
