Channing Tatum Says His Magic Mike Body Wasn't Natural Or Healthy

Channing Tatum has confessed that his Magic Mike body isn't the most 'natural' or 'healthy' to maintain.

The actor, who featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show a few days ago (17 February), turns 42 in a couple months and says it's harder to get in shape as he gets older.

Magic Mike fans will be happy to know that a third instalment is 'on its way' and so are Tatum's abs, but at what cost?

Clarkson displayed a photo of the fictional stripper on the big screen, to which Tatum admitted that he isn't looking forward to looking 'like that' again.

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He said: "That might be the reason why I didn’t want to do a third one, because I have to look like that."

The 21 Jump Street actor then went into more detail of how hard it is to maintain unrealistic depictions of how men look in the franchise.

He added: "It's hard to look like that.

"Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in 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."

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The actor also admitted that he doesn't know how people who work a '9 to 5' stay in shape.

He explained: "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."

Tatum reveals that in preparation for the role, he works out twice a day for two months and eats 'completely right'.

Surprisingly, the food he misses the most is salt.

Apparently, cutting out sodium is an important dietary requirement to look the part.

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He concludes: "Just everything tastes like, I don't know, tastes like water. It's nothing."

One thing he says, which we can all surely agree with, is how it takes three months to get really lean and 'in three days, you can lose it'.

At the end of Magic Mike (2012), we saw Mike Lane step away from his stripping career to become a full-time carpenter.

In the 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL, Mike was brought back into the stripperverse for a one-off reunion in Myrtle Beach.

While it is currently unknown as to when Magic Mike's Last Dance will be released, what we do know is that it will premiere exclusively on HBO Max and Steven Soderbergh will be returning to the director's chair.