Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Armani Latimer Ditches Her Wig in Support of Alopecia Awareness

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Armani Latimer Alopecia — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Armani Latimer performed without a wig at the Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals game on Dec. 9, and the decision was nothing short of courageous. For Latimer, a 23-year-old dancer who appeared in the hit Netflix series America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders earlier this year, the moment also marked an opportunity to speak publicly about her diagnosis with alopecia areata: an autoimmune disease that attacks hair follicles and causes hair loss.

In an Instagram reel shared to the squad's joint account, Latimer seemed visibly moved by her teammates' support as she strolled onto the field at ATT Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Monday. At one special game every year, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) partner with Lucchese Bootmaker to spotlight charitable causes that are close to each team member's heart—a program dubbed "My Cause My Boots" in a spinoff of the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” platform.

This year, Latimer chose to perform in support of alopecia awareness, having struggled with the chronic condition since age 12. In an interview with Women's Health, Latimer explained her occasional bald spots tend to "become bigger with stress."

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the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders performing at the cowboys bengals game as Armani Latimer chooses not to wear a wig — Latimer performed without her wig at the Dec. 9 Dallas Cowboys football game.

"Shortly after college, I auditioned to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and attempted to wear my hair naturally, but the demands of being a training camp candidate and trying to make the team caused my hair to fall out at a faster rate," she told the outlet. "As it became harder to cover up, I went back to sew-ins. And once my hair fell out completely, I started wearing wigs."

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Latimer went on to discuss the impact alopecia had on her mood and self-esteem during her early cheering career. Flareups often meant she "was only able to give about 50 percent of [her] effort."

"People see cheerleaders and assume they're flawless," Latimer added in conversation with Women's Health. "While that's obviously not true, I still found myself having to unlearn idea that I needed to be perfect to be on the team. I didn’t want to just be the cheerleader who didn’t have hair."

Armani Latimer poses without a wig in support of alopecia awareness.

Acceptance is an ongoing journey, Latimer continued, but becoming more vocal about her alopecia helped her realize the condition doesn't define her. At the beginning of the 2024 season, Latimer approached DCC director Kelli Finglass about going wig-free for the squad's annual "My Cause My Boots" game.

"Knowing that the game would be live in front of over 80 thousand people and I may end up on TV is a bit intimidating," Latimer confessed. "But I’m reminding myself that I’ll be out there dancing with my best friends, and my family will be there as well. I know that it’ll be an impactful moment for whoever it touches."

Now that's a cause I can definitely get behind.

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.