When Was Channing Tatum A Stripper?

Everyone who loved the cinematic camp-fest of Magic Mike is probably anxiously awaiting the premiere of Magic Mike XXL with dollar bills in hand. Many people know that Magic Mike is based on the actor's own experience of dropping out of college and becoming a male dancer, but when was Channing Tatum stripping exactly?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this all happened when Tatum was 19 years old. He's 34 right now, so that would put our time stamp on his life in the clubs in the late 1990s, early 2000s. Given this fact, we can assume that he most likely danced to Sisqo's "Thong Song" at some point in his career.

In his interview with THR, Tatum told a story of attending an, erm, stripping convention during his exotic dancing days and recalled that it wasn't as professional as the word "convention" would suggest:

I have no idea why it's called a convention. The "convention" was not strippers peddling stripper technology or anything like that. It was just a big show with 50 to 70 strippers and 2,000 to 3,000 women. It was crazy. They attacked me every night.

He went on to tell the story of one audience member who was struck by his resemblance to her nephew while he was giving her a lap dance:

The lady goes, "Oh my God! Look at you! You remind me of my nephew!" — and then grabs me. It hit me like a hand grenade. It was like tick, tick, tick, boom: She's grabbing my butt and saying, "You remind me of my nephew."

Tick, tick, tick, boom indeed.

According to the interview, this convention is supposedly the point at which the coming sequel picks up Mike's story. I guess his found-objects-furniture business didn't work out so well? Or perhaps, he just felt that there was more thrusting to be done in order to make the world a happier place.

Whatever the ultimate fate of Mike will be, I'm glad to know that his routine to Ginuwine's "Pony" was chronologically accurate to what Channing would've been dancing to in his early-aughts life as a novelty entertainer.

Image: Giphy