Back to the mat! Cheer is gearing up for its second season on Netflix, and Coach Monica Aldama is spilling all the tea.

“It covers, I think, the first part up to where we get our season canceled and then picks back up with now we’re coming back in a COVID year, which was so hard with all the COVID rules and stuff,” the Navarro College coach, 49, told J-14 exclusively ahead of the Tuesday, January 4, release of her memoir, Full Out: Lessons in Life and Leadership from America’s Favorite Coach. “It should be an exciting season 2. Definitely, you’ll get to see, obviously, your favorites from season 1 and you will definitely fall in love with some new people too.”

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Netflix

Cheer became an immediate phenomenon following its premiere on Netflix in January 2020. Following its success, Monica initially didn’t know if she and her squad were going to return for a second season.  

“I knew that was a possibility, but I also thought when it came out that they might not do another season just because it was so good. How do you top it? But we did do season 2,” the Texas native told J-14, noting that the second season will be “longer.” Season 2 will premiere via the streaming service on Wednesday, January 12, and will be nine episodes long compared to the first season’s six episodes. 

In her book, Monica recalled the beginning of the squad’s journey to win another National Cheerleaders Association’s National Championship trophy and how it came to a screeching halt amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Once the 2020 cheer season was canceled because of the pandemic, filming on season 2 was also put on pause. Eventually, they came back with new protocols and got back to filming — and slaying their cheerleading routines. This time around, Monica said “not really” any part of her life was off limits.

Chelsea [Yarnell] —  I talk about Chelsea in the book, she’s one of the producers on the show — she could always talk me into pretty much anything,” the coach explained. “So, I don’t know that there’s really much off limits of, but I am still a private person. Really, you just have to walk right through the fear, and that’s just what I continue to do on a daily basis.” 

'Cheer' Star Monica Aldama Promises an 'Exciting' Season 2: 'We're Coming Back in a COVID Year'
Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster

Overcoming her anxieties is exactly what Monica did when releasing her first-ever book.

“I’m nervous because everybody’s a critic,” she shared with J-14. “After Cheer came out, I realized that there’s a whole world of critics that I’m not used to. I’m used to always doing everything right. I’ve gotten used to it, but obviously, it’s something I’ve never done before, so I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m excited to have it come out.”

One way that Monica gets through her hard times is by listening to Taylor Swift! Not only did she gush over her love for the songstress in Full Out, but the Netflix star told J-14 that she listened to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” about “50 times” following its November 2021 release.

“I love Taylor so much. She’s just brilliant,” Monica said. “The little extra lines she added in there, I was just like, ‘Oh.’ I thought it was brilliant, because that’s who Taylor is. She’s brilliant. I was all in. Listened a ridiculously embarrassing amount of times, and then, I had to watch the movie. I was down the rabbit hole. All in.”

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