When Magic Mike was released in cinemas, men around the world suddenly had a poster boy for their fitness ambitions. With his ripped physique and bulging biceps, Channing Tatum became an icon and inspired countless individuals to embark on a gym routine that would see them try and get a body just like his. But in a recent interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Tatum is now opening up about that experience and the unhealthy toll it took on his life as he prepared to play a male stripper.
After years of waiting, it’s been announced that a Magic Mike 3 is on the cards, but despite his previous success in the role, Tatum has revealed that he’s struggling to get in shape. When an image of Tatum in the role appeared on the screen, he said: “That might be the reason why I didn’t want to do a third one, because I have to look like that.”
Speaking about male body image and the pressure of fitting a certain physique to play a role like the in the Magic Mike franchise, Tatum explained: “It’s hard to look like that. Even if you do work out, to be in that kind of shape is not natural. That’s not even healthy. You have to starve yourself. I don’t think when you’re that lean, it’s actually healthy.”
Tatum added that even when it’s your job to prepare for a role, the amount of training, diligence with diet and consistency is incredibly hard, leading him to suggest that he has no idea how those with work and family commitments do it. “I don’t know how people who work a 9 to 5 actually stay in shape because it’s my full-time job, and I can barely do it,” he added.
To get in shape, Tatum was working out twice a day and eating “completely right,” essentially only allowing himself bland meals that were devoid of all flavour. He said the thing he missed most was salt, as cutting out sodium was a big part of the Magic Mike look. “Just everything tastes like, I don’t know, tastes like water. It’s nothing.”
Channing also described that all-too-relatable feeling of working out for months to get lean, only to lose the results in a matter of days from unhealthy eating and lack of routine. “Why – when it takes like, I don’t know, two months to get really lean – in three days, you can lose it? It’s gone. I was like, ‘What happened?’”
