Former Strippers Who Are Now Famous Celebrities
Movie and music stars like Channing Tatum and Cardi B are well-known. However, before breaking into Hollywood, they worked as strippers to supplement their income. Also, they’re not the only celebrities who have done so.
Many other celebrities have admitted to being strippers for a weekend, a few months, or several years.
Continue reading to find out which celebrities had the same job as you. You will be surprised to find out that many celebrities did once work as exotic dancers.
Celebrities such as NeNe Leakes worked as an exotic dancer for years and considers the experience empowering.
Leakes explained why she began stripping in her 2009 memoir, “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice”. She was a single mother at the time, struggling to pay her rent and support her son. Leakes took a job as a stripper under the alias “Silk,” and she described herself as “powerful” as a dancer.
“With every piece of clothing I removed, I regained more control over my life,” she wrote. “I worked this body like a well-oiled machine. Every movement moved me closer to my goal of financial independence for my child and me.”
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Channing Tatum’s days as a stripper in Florida are loosely based in “Magic Mike.”
Before starring in films like “21 Jump Street” and “Step Up,” Tatum worked as an exotic dancer. He used to work as a stripper in a Tampa, Florida strip joint before making it big in Hollywood.
Tatum — then known as “Chan Crawford” — danced for guests in a video sold to Us Weekly in 2009. He has been forthcoming about his past. He told GQ in 2011 that he’s “not ashamed” and has “no regrets.”
Mr. Tatum isn’t afraid to talk about his time as a stripper, but he has stated that he doesn’t miss it.
In 2017, he told People magazine, “I don’t miss anything about stripping.” “I stripped for maybe 25 girls in Tampa.” It wasn’t glamorous in the least, so I don’t miss stripping.”
Cardi B is one of the celebrities who has spoken openly about her time as a stripper on numerous occasions.
Cardi B began stripping as a teenager and continued for three and a half years. She explained in an interview that the job helped her pay her bills, afford an apartment, and invest in her dream of becoming an artist.
She also stated that by the time she was 20 years old, she had amassed around $20,000 in earnings from her work.
Cardi B said in an interview with Cosmopolitan that she continues to speak out against stripping. It is because she believes those who work in the industry are not respected.
Courtney Love’s previous career as an exotic dancer aided her in forming a band.
Love was an exotic dancer at places like Jumbo’s Clown Room and Seventh Veil before singing, acting, and marrying Kurt Cobain in the 1990s.
She told LA Weekly that she used to make $300 a day. Love was able to start her band, Hole, with the money she earned from her job.
Strippers come from all walks of life!
Javier Bardem is one of many celebrities who had a brief stint as a stripper before becoming an Oscar winner.
It began as a joke, according to Bardem. Then he was hired to perform again, and his family was in the audience to cheer him on.
In an interview with Marie Claire UK in 2008, he said, “It was a disaster.” “Do you have any idea who was watching?” My mother and sister It was something like that – you go there and dance, and they pay you money.”
Bardem went on to say that he didn’t take off too much of his clothing and that he has a “good relationship” with his family.
Before her music career took off, Azealia Banks worked as a stripper for a short time.
Before breaking into the mainstream, the controversial rapper worked at a strip joint, but that didn’t last long.
In 2014, Banks told The Daily Beast, “I worked at this little strip club, and it was a low point, but I needed some fast money. In the strip club, I was such a chicken. It was not my cup of tea at all. I only stayed for two weekends before leaving because ‘212 blew up'”.
Kendra Wilkinson describes herself as a “free spirit” who worked as a stripper for a short time.
Wilkinson was a stripper before joining the Playboy Mansion at the age of eighteen.
Wilkinson revealed more details about her former job when she competed in the UK show “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!” in 2014.
Wilkinson claims she began stripping to “see how much money I could make.”
Chris Pratt is one of many Hollywood blockbuster celebrities. But when he was younger he worked at a variety of odd jobs to supplement his income.
Pratt’s fans are likely aware that he lived in a van in Hawaii for a while. Pratt also worked as a stripper in addition to babysitting, waiting tables, and mowing lawns.
In 2013, Pratt told BuzzFeed, “I was always a very naked person”. “I used to love getting naked all the time. I had a lot of free time, so I figured I’d better get paid”.
Pratt also revealed that he was paid $40 to sing at a grandmother’s birthday party.
He admitted, “I was never like ‘Magic Mike.'” “I went to a club one time and auditioned on stage, but I don’t think I got the job.” “I don’t think I’m a particularly skilled dancer.”
Blac Chyna began stripping to pay for her education.
Blac Chyna is one of many celebrities who worked as a stripper to save money for college before becoming an entrepreneur (and engulfed in Kardashian drama). She continued pole dancing while attending Johnson & Wales University in Miami, but she soon realized she couldn’t devote enough time to her job and classes.
Chyna began full-time dancing after dropping out of school.
“My mother was a stripper,” she revealed to Elle in 2016. “So she said, ‘If this is what you want to do, do it better than anyone else.'”
Chyna worked as an exotic dancer at Miami’s King of Diamonds, where she earned up to $15,000 in a single night.
She said in a 2016 Facebook live chat that if she wasn’t famous, she’d “probably still be in the strip club.”
Mark Consuelos, star of “Riverdale,” was persuaded to strip after college.
Consuelos was a stripper before landing roles on TV shows and movies, according to Kelly Ripa, Consuelos’ wife of more than 20 years and cohost of “Live With Kelly and Ryan.”
Ripa told Vanity Fair in 2012, “A lot of hot guys in Hollywood have done that.”
He got the job after graduating from the University of South Florida, she added.
“He was in South Florida, he was gorgeous, and he was looking to break into show business, so he started off as a roadie for a group of these guys, and then they talked him into stripping,” Ripa said.
Amber Rose is a person who has spoken highly of her time as an exotic dancer while also criticizing double standards.
Rose began stripping when she was 15 years old, but stopped and returned when she was 18. She proudly stated to Cosmopolitan in 2015 that stripping “was the best time of my life.”
She exclaimed, “It was so much fun.” “I truly did. All of the girls were extremely attractive. You were not allowed to be touched by the guys. I was never sexually assaulted or [assaulted in any way]. For me, I was young, beautiful, and onstage, so I wasn’t ashamed of my appearance. “In addition, I made friends for life.”
Rose compared how she and Tatum are perceived in a 2016 interview with Cosmopolitan South Africa. Rose, like Tatum, began as a stripper before moving on to modeling and acting.
People would probably call Rose “disgusting” if she made a movie like “Magic Mike” about being a stripper, according to Rose.
“It’s ludicrous,” she exclaimed. “[Tatum] and I have lived the same life, and I’ve been dumbed down as a result.” It’s not his fault; it’s just the way society works.”
Mike “The Situation,” star of “Jersey Shore,” In college, Sorrentino was a stripper.
Sorrentino was once an exotic dancer known as “Vito Durado,” according to an MTV show in 2012.
When Sorrentino tried to impress his fellow “Jersey Shore” stars with his moves, they were not impressed.
Paul “PaulyD” DelVecchio said, “Mike really has no moves, and I’m starting to doubt that Mike used to do this for a living.”
Lady Gaga was a stripper before she became famous and sold out arenas all over the world.
Gaga was a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, but she dropped out and moved out of her parents’ house. She made ends meet by working as a waitress during the day and a stripper at night.
According to the magazine News of the World’s Fabulous, she said, “My act was pretty wild.” “I’d dance in black leather to Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, and Faith No More.” “It’s very rock’n’roll.”
The singer admitted to Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” that she used to be a stripper in New York’s Lower East Side because she “made more money stripping than waitressing.”
After being discovered at a strip club, singer Eve was pushed to pursue a career in the music industry.
Eve revealed on VH1’s “Behind the Music” that exotic dancing led to her music career after she met rapper Mase.
Eve said in an interview with Rolling Stone that she has no regrets about her career as a dancer.
She said, “I was 18 and confused, going through personal problems.” “I did it for a month, and I’m glad I did it.” It aided in the discovery of Eve and the establishment of a serious relationship.”
Constance Wu went undercover at a strip club in preparation for her role in the 2019 film “Hustlers.”
“I gave strangers lap dances,” the actress said on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in February 2020. “On my first night, I made $600!”
Wu added that her firsthand experience “helped me to know that feeling — because you can’t duplicate it — of walking into a club and saying, ‘Hey, I’d like to have a job here,’ and then going to work that night.”
