I'm pretty sure that's the reason, at least that would be my reason. When I leave tons in my hair like that I do experience the crunchies, but I do it when I need super hold for a week or more with NO frizz. I simply scrunch out the crunch with a few drops of hair serum, glosser or leave-in and it's gone. I don't scrunch it dry because even though it looks good, for me, it is unpleasant to the touch.
But, yeah, her hair looks great and really I don't think it has a lot to do with her brand of conditioner, but I'm going to get me some of that Tresseme anyway!