Fab Five 'Texas Cheerleading Scandal' : Tatum O'Neal Plays Ex-principal Linda Theret

A group of out-of-control North Texas high school cheerleaders are the next to be immortalized on the small screen in a movie loosely based on a McKinney coach's experience. The movie will be broadcast next month.Michaela Ward said her life has come full circle since blowing the whistle on discipline of the McKinney North cheerleaders and that the movie is the silver lining to her personal story.

"I'm feeling really good. Things have actually come together," said Ward.Ward can smile about it now. The movie, "The Texas Cheerleading Scandal," will premiere Aug. 2 on Lifetime Television."It was 'Girls Gone Wild' everywhere you turned and my complaint was never with the cheerleaders it was always with the adults," said Ward.Ward said administrators with McKinney Independent School District failed to discipline a group of cheerleaders because the group's leader was the principal's daughter.

Ward told NBC 5 that about only about half of the movie is based on actual events."If we're talking about details, I'd say about 50 percent is true, 25 percent is mildly to moderately exaggerated and the other 25 percent is made up," said Ward.Tatum O'Neal plays former principal Linda Theret and Jenna Dewan of Grapevine plays Ward. Ward met the cast on the set in New Orleans and even makes a cameo in the film.If you missed the real-life story of McKinney's misbehaving high school cheerleaders, you can soon catch it on television. Lifetime is now filming ''Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal'' based on the McKinney North High School squad that erupted in national scandal in 2006. Actress Ashley Benson plays the part of Principal's daughter Brooke Tippit who is based on real-life Principal's daughter Karrissa Theret

For critics who said she sold out for a buck, Ward said they are correct."I couldn't work. I couldn't get a job. When you Googled my name the first thing that came up was McKinney ISD's response to cheerleading coach -- the one that said everyone of my allegations was false," said Ward. "My family and I went through a hard time. We almost lost everything, including our house."Ward is now employed by the family of a former McKinney North cheerleader and said she is hopeful parents and students get a message from the movie.

But what about McKinney ISD?"Unfortunately, I'm not at all concerned about what the districts thinks," said Ward.A spokesperson for the district said Lifetime did contact them about the movie, which the district said will be inaccurate because it is only loosely based on the facts.The spokesperson said the district's main concern is how former students will be portrayed, but that they are confident in the steps that they have taken to make sure a scandal like this never takes place again.