Channing Tatum has likened the success of 'Magic Mike' to winning ''the lottery''.

The 2012 comedy-drama, which also starred the likes of Joe Manganiello and Matthew McConaughey, was a huge box office success, but Channing admits to being massively surprised by the film's popularity.

The 35-year-old actor said: ''We just won the lottery. Like, we had no idea. We truly honestly had no idea. I don't know we could have seen it.''

Channing's co-star Joe Manganiello echoed his sentiment, revealing he was completely surprised by the popularity of the movie.

Joe, 38, told Entertainment Weekly: ''I remember Warner Bros. bought it and announced they were going to release it as their Fourth of July movie. That's when it hit me. I was like, 'Oh my God, what we just did to these girls, everyone is going to see this.'''

Due to the bond they developed while making the original movie, the cast were happy to return for the much-anticipated sequel, which is released next month.

Channing said: ''I'll forever be able to see them across the room and be like 'You!' [Points across the table] If ever s**t goes down, I know who's willing to go hard - no pun intended.''