Channing Tatum reveals the dark side of the stripping world

Channing Tatum has revealed that stripping can be a very “dark world”.

The Magic Mike star insisted that his new film didn’t come close to capturing the troubles of being a male stripper.

“The world in itself was just a very dark world in a way,” Tatum said during a press conference in Los Angeles.

“I don’t think we even scratch the surface of really how dark that place can get and how slippery of a slope it can actually be.

“This was probably the most palatable version of this movie,” Tatum explained. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t want to see it twice, you’d just be like, ‘Okay, I feel dirty now’. I think we blade-ran that topic.”

Recently a new raunchy photograph of the 32-year-old actor has been unearthed from the late Nineties.

The photo shows off Channing’s assets during his teenage stripping days in Tampa, Florida, dancing provocatively with young women for tips dressed in nothing but neon briefs.

Under the stage name ‘Chan Crawford’, the then 18-year-old has said he earned $50 a night plus tips.

A flurry of dollar bills are tucked into his skimpy neon underwear. A thong in his art: This photograph emerged of an 18-year-old Channing Tatum when he was an exotic dancer at a Florida nightclub, stripping under the stage name 'Chan Crawford'

The stripper-turned-model-turned actor looks to the camera with a sultry half smile, his tongue lolling out while other women look on, money at the ready in their hands.

Channing was voted ‘most athletic when he graduated from Tampa Catholic High School in 1998, but turned down a football scholarship and instead chose to strip at a now-defunct Florida nightclub.

The actor, who married his Step Up co-star Jenna Dewan in July 2009, eventually caught the eye of a female casting agent who put him in Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bangs’ music video.

This led to modelling jobs, and eventually Hollywood acting jobs.

Magic Mike, which was released in cinemas on June 29, is inspired by the real-life story of stripper Mike Zeman.

The film, directed by Steven Soderberg, also stars Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, and Matt Bomer in leading roles.

Channing will produce a stage version of Magic Mike, which he hopes to have out by summer 2013.

Magic Mike opened to $18m (£14.2m) on Friday (June 29) in the US. The film is released in the UK on July 11.