8 Male Celebs You Had No Idea Were Strippers

A lot of celebrities had alternate "careers" before they became famous. Some are mundane and others are a bit juicier. Celebs who worked as strippers definitely falls into the latter category. Since acting is often linked with dancing, it is only natural that some celebrities would have gotten their start as exotic dancers. In fact, lots of them did:

1. Channing Tatum

Not everyone watching Magic Mike XXL, premiering this week, may know that Channing Tatum actually WAS a stripper before he became an actor! Come on, he looked way too natural on that stage to be totally new to it. He worked as a stripper under the name “Chan Crawford” and wanted to make the Magic Mike movies because of those experiences. And aren’t we glad he did.

2. Chris Pratt

Currently a hugely successful actor featured in several blockbuster movies, Chris was a daytime stripper at one point after dropping out of a local community college. We see now that he had the body for it but we’re glad to see he made it big beyond his exotic dancing days!

3. Brad Pitt

With a body like that, it’s not terribly surprising that Brad Pitt had a brief stint as a stripper! He was reportedly part of a group at the University of Missouri called the “Dancing Bares” and boy, do we wish YouTube was a thing back then so we could see some footage!

4. Javier Bardem

On this whole list, Javier has the distinction of being a stripper for the shortest amount of time – according to him, about 10 minutes. And his mother was in the audience. Sounds like a disaster and stopping was a smart move!

5. Mark Conseulos

Adorable husband to TV personality Kelly Ripa, Mark once worked as a stripper to pay his way through college. He has had a long and varied career since so it looks like it worked out for him! He is now the father of three children and judging by the money he and Kelly must make, none of them will have to strip to pay tuition.

6. Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino

 Before he starred in six seasons of MTV’s Jersey Shore, “The Situation” was a stripper with the “All American Male” exotic dancer group. He loves being topless so I don’t think this one comes as much of a surprise.

7. Joey Lawrence

Joey Lawrence actually had a little backslide into stripper-land. He did a run with the Chippendales in 2012 even though he had already had a successful acting career. If you’ve got it, flaunt it, I suppose.

8. Jake Pavelka

Jake didn’t really have many options after his season of The Bachelor expired, so he made like Joey Lawrence and joined up with the Chippendales!