Morgan Simianer Binge-Watched Netflix's Cheer At 2:00 In The Morning, Too

In the fall of 2018, Morgan Simianer's main objective was to simply be the perfect cheerleader she can be — which included locking in one of the 20 obtainable spots on the mat whenever Navarro College, a community school in Corsicana, Texas, would compete at the National Cheerleading Association’s annual National Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida. As a second-year cheerleader there were a lot of stakes riding on making mat — after all, Navarro had already won more than a dozen championships since coach Monica Aldama started leading them in 1995. And Simianer had already won in at least one sense, given that she made it onto the 40-person team to start with. Right now, she’s willing to work — and the complete world can watch.


This season, a film crew came to her campus to document her team’s journey to Daytona. At first, she didn’t make it to mat, however once another cheerleader was injured, she was taken off the sidelines to support her team take a championship title. That journey ultimately turned into one of the storylines on the new Netflix documentary series Cheer, which tackles not only Simianer’s unusual track to the mat yet the emotional journey that brought her from a tiny town in Wyoming to Texas. As a child, she and her brother were largely abandoned by their parents, plus it wasn’t up until her grandparents discovered she was living in a trailer that she had a place she might really call house. It was there that she noticed Aldama, her coach who became so much more than a coach.


“She's my best friend and my mentor and my mom figure,” Simianer told MTV News of Aldama. “I still love her to death.”


MTV News catches up with Simianer, who recently completed her associates degree in sociology, and is currently taking a dual enrollment program through Navarro College and Texas A&M Commerce so that she can continue to compete with her squad. Here, she talks about the method of juggling both her cheer duties and her school work in front of the camera, her relationship with Aldama, and how she’s hoping the 2020 championships will be different in at least one major way.


MTV News: How did you feel while you noticed out that the 2019 cheer season was going to be recorded?


Morgan: At first, it was sort of like, "Oh, is it really going to happen?" Once I realized it was legitimate I was freaking out. I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is so cool. This is going to be astonishing. I'm going to meet all these astonishing people. This is an once in a lifetime possibility and I was just really excited about it.


MTV News: Did you watch the full season once it came out? What did you think about how the show portrayed you?


Morgan: Oh yeah, I binge watched it once it came out at 2:00 in morning. The ideal word to describe it was “incredible,” because it just had a whole year documented for the world to be able to see. So even looking back on it right now and watching my little clips of it, it just brings back memories. It puts you in that exact time and place as soon as they were filming. It's a whole brick wall hitting you with emotions and feelings.


The way that they put everything with each other, I couldn't even think of anything any better than that. They just really helped me share my story and make it very inspiring for other people. Certainly, I have a different perception of how I view myself versus how other people view me. Nevertheless I think it did an accurate way of describing me.


MTV News: Have any of your relationships shifted since the docuseries has come out?


Morgan: Not really. I've had people from high school and stuff reach out to me and just mention "Congratulations," and that they're overjoyed of me. A lot of people that I don't know have been messaging me very positive and inspirational things and just thanking me for sharing my story. I've gained several friendships with people and I've had the possibility to meet so several more people from this, nevertheless nothing's really shifted [for the team]. We're still one big family.


MTV News: Your relationship with Monica in particular is something that I think a lot of people can relate to. Has that relationship stayed the same?


Morgan: Our relationship is still very close because I'm still here at Navarro. We've had a bit of time to talk about the show, however it has exploded more than we ever would have believed. We've been attempting to catch up, and do interviews and find time to eat and sleep.


MTV News: What has it been like to go from a tiny town girl to right now being nationally recognized for your talent as a cheerleader?


Morgan: It's still so surreal that my brain literally cannot even process that we have a Netflix show. Nevertheless for me, it's not really about the followers. Social media is social media — one day you can lose all your followers. I just really wanted to share my story and just seeing the impact that that's made on people has just made a global of difference.


MTV News: Have you spoke to anyone from your hometown about the series however? Or have they reached out to you?


Morgan: I mean, each person there understands about the show and all of that, yet nobody knew my whole story, because I never really shared that with anyone. So it's sort of very shocking for each person. However the quantity of support that each person showed me has been out the roof.


It's a little scary, especially because I really do care about how people view me. I just trusted that the Netflix crew was going to capture an accurate representation of who I am.


MTV News: You went through quite a big transformation while in the docuseries. What did it feel like any time whenever you knew that you were going to be on the mat at Daytona?


Morgan: It was certainly a really good feeling knowing that all of the hard work that I put in was going to pay off, and that I was trusted by my coaches enough to be put in that spot. I was very excited about it. Although then I knew in my head that I had to be way better than I was at that very moment, and I had to work 10 times harder just have the ability to keep my spot and have the ability to not let anybody down.


I would think about where I want my life to be at, and if I look into the future 20 years, do I'd like to think of myself as someone who gave up and didn't try as hard? So I just really use that as motivation to be the ideal version of myself and to give everything 100 percent because you never know as soon as it's going to be the last time competing.


MTV News: Is there any moment that the show captured without your watching and also wish you can have gone back and done differently?


Morgan: Not really. With the exception of crying, nevertheless it’s segment of it. It just shows actual emotion, so I wouldn't change anything.


MTV News: There's been a lot of talking online about that emergency room visit you had, where you determined to stick it out and go against doctor's orders and keep cheering. In case you had to do that again, would you have done the same thing?


Morgan: Definitely. I didn't wish to let anyone down and I know how my body was and the condition that it was in, and I knew that I could keep pushing. I wouldn't have changed anything. I still would have pushed through.


MTV News: How are your ribs now?


Morgan: They're good, fantastic and healed. Doing wonderful, just fine.


MTV News: How do you know that the show changes misconceptions about cheerleading?


Morgan: It supports the a lot with the stereotypes of people saying that we aren't actual athletes. So I just think that [Netflix] really did help portray who we are as people, that we do care about our grades and we can make 4.0, and we are very decided athletes who have a fantastic skill set. We work really, really hard just like all other athletes.


MTV News: Is there anything that was big that you wish made it into the documentary however that just didn't make the cut?


Morgan: There's probably a lot of things that I wish that they could have put in, nevertheless they only had six hours to work with. We had a lot of funny practices. Although there's also progression stuff that we did to help prevent injuries and that's the part that they couldn't really incorporate in it because they only had so much time.


MTV News: How do you find the time to practice, study, and take care of your body and social life?


Morgan: We are officially beginning our Daytona season for 2020, and  you’ve just got to push and make it work. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime possibility, and I never aspire to regret anything. I do have to risk my sleep, just to create ensure that I get all my schoolwork done, and that I get to practices and time to eat and time to socialize my companions. Along with a bit of time to check up on social media. I have to have a very organized schedule, because everything's been chaotic.


MTV News: What would you tell high school Morgan in case you can converse with her?


Morgan: I would probably mention to never give up because there really are good things in store for you. Just keep being true to yourself and just know that you're loved.


This interview has been edited for length.