Show & Tell: Meet Nicole Hamilton of ‘Vegas! The Show’

Q: Before moving here (last March), you were a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. How long were you with the Cowboys?

A: Six years with the Cowboys.

Before that, I was with the Dallas Mavericks (dance team). I did three years with them.

Q: When did you start dancing?

A: My mom put me in it when I was in kindergarten. I was so shy. Like, if you tried to talk to me, I'd dig my face into my mom's leg. That's probably why I never did any extracurricular activities, because I would not socialize with the other kids. But my mom knew I was extremely athletic, naturally, and had an ability to dance, but I just would never do it.

Q: When did cheerleading enter the picture?

A: After my first year of college, my mom, because I never did cheerleading or anything like that, she saw an advertisement for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. She said, "You should do it." At the time, that was the furthest thing of being a reality for me. ... I was, like, "They're probably looking for tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed, big-boobed girls, and that's not me." She said: "Why don't you try out and let the judges tell you no?"

Q: So you decided to go for it.

A: I spent three weeks doing all the studying and the research I could. And the first time I tried out, I was actually only one of the semifinalists. After that, for some reason, I was super encouraged and thought, "What's next?" It turned out they had the Mavericks auditions in a couple of months. So I took six hours of dance a day and I ended up, at 19, making the Mavericks.

Q: And, three years later, you were chosen for the most iconic cheerleading squad in the world.

A: I was floored. And I was so motivated. ... With (the Cowboys), it's, like, rookie of the year, veteran of the year, you can be captain, you can be in the calendar, you can go to the Pro Bowl. There's so much to strive for, and I'm, like, "I'm going to write a checklist, and I will accomplish this," and by the end of my six years, I did all of them.

Q: And you're on a Fathead (life-sized wall decal)!

A: I know! That's super cool, too.

Q: Did they give you one?

A: I had to buy it. That's another thing: I wanted to make show group, and I made show group my rookie year, and we did USO tours around the world. I'd watch them pass out my Fathead as the grand prize, and I'm, like, "You can't give me one?" (Laughs)

Q: Has your cheerleading experience helped you transition to dancing into a Las Vegas show?

A: It helped, but it's definitely a lot different. ... When I was cheering, I was at the point of every formation every time, and you have to be bigger than life. ... But, onstage, this style of dancing is not as big.

Q: Any idea what you might like to do when you're finished performing?

A: I'm really starting to have a new passion for acting. ... Just like being a model or an athlete is a short-lived career, I feel there is a lot of longevity in acting, and I could see that as another outlet for me to express myself.