Channing Tatum - Channing Tatum Bares All About Stripping Past

"It was the worst idea that I had heard," he explained of the clown outfit, "and I had heard some bad ideas and seen some bad skits!" Working at a strip club at a time, the now 32 year-old argued with his bosses about the look, but ultimately lost. "I was like, 'Clowns aren't sexy - if anything they're scary. Why is this gonna work? '" he said "And they were just like, 'Nah, nah - it kills, bro. It kills, bro. They're gonna love it.'" And so.

"I danced to like, '99 Red Balloons' or something, I come out and. crickets. Crickets!" he continued, completing the whole sorry saga. "People didn't know if it was a joke [or] if it was supposed to be for real. No one cheered, no nothing. That was the last night I did that. I was like, 'What did I tell you?!" Sounds grim, it was an effort almost topped though when he dressed as a boy scout, only to find himself dancing in front of some rather familiar company. "[It was] my first night of stripping and my sister and six of her friends came my first night up, which was horribly mortifying," he said. "My sister didn't watch, but all her friends watched, all in the front row, and I'm just like, 'This [Boy Scout routine] is the worst idea ever!'" Tatum's new movie 'Magic Mike' - partly inspired by his stripping past - hits cinemas on Friday (July 29, 2012).