The film Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal is based on a true story that occurred at McKinney North High School in McKinney, Texas, in 2006.
The “Fab Five” cheerleaders, played by Jessica Heap, Aimee Spring Fortier, Ashley Benson, Stephanie Honoré, and Ashlynn Ross, pose together in a scene from Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal (Credit: Fox 21 Television Studios)
Premiere and Casting of Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal
The movie premiered on August 2, 2008, just two years after the real-life events. The actresses who portrayed the “Fab Five” cheerleaders were close in age to the characters they played during filming.
Jenna Dewan was 27, Ashley Benson was 18, Aimee Spring Fortier was 21, Stephanie Honoré was 24, Jessica Heap was 25, Ashlynn Ross was 16, and Tatum O’Neal was 44.
Of the actresses playing the Fab Five in Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal, only Ashley Benson (Brooke) and Ashlynn Ross (Tabitha) were of high school age at the time of filming. Benson was 18 years old, while Ross was 16 years old.
The other three actresses, Jessica Heap (Jeri), Aimee Fortier (Lisa), and Stephanie Honore (Ashley), were all in their 20s at the time of filming.
In 2006, a group of cheerleaders from McKinney North High School, including the daughter of then-school principal Linda Theret, gained notoriety due to their involvement in truancy, classroom rudeness, dress code violations, and other misconduct.
The McKinney cheerleader scandal was the basis for the 2008 TV movie “Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal,” which aired on Lifetime Television in August 2008 (Credit: Fox 21 Television Studios)
The scandal received national attention when the school’s cheerleading coach, Michaela Ward, resigned in October of that year and began speaking to news outlets. In December 2006, the District Board hired attorney Harry Jones to investigate the matter.
Principal Theret was placed on paid administrative leave and later retired, and the superintendent confirmed that she would not return to the school or any other campus.
The names of the schools, students, and teachers involved were changed in the film adaptation.
Ashley Benson played Brooke Tippit, the co-captain and leader of the “Fab Five,” while Jenna Dewan portrayed Emma Carr, the new cheerleading coach aiming to guide and transform the behavior of the notorious group in the film “Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal” (Credit: Fox 21 Television Studios)
Jenna Dewan grew up in Grapevine, Texas, about 30 miles from McKinney, Texas, the site of the real-life incident that inspired Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal.