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Channing Tatum recalls pain of waxing

Jun 29, 2012, 15:02 GMT

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum admits being waxed for 'Magic Mike' was the 'most painful' thing he'd ever done.

The 32-year-old actor underwent a gruelling transformation to play a stripper in the film, and despite working out three-hours a day, coating himself in fake tan every day and sticking to a strict gluten-free and non-dairy diet, he admits the worst part of his preparation was having the hair removed from his most intimate areas.

He said: 'It was the most painful thing I'll ever do. And it's something I'll never do again.'

The film - which also stars Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer and Joe Manganiello - is inspired by Channing's own experiences as an 18-year-old stripper but he insists his wife Jenna Dewan isn't embarrassed by any of his antics.

He told People: 'She loves it; she thinks it's hilarious.

'You know, she married an ex-stripper.'

And the actor admits he never really enjoyed stripping for a living.

He said: 'I enjoyed the performing part of dancing but I didn't really love taking my clothes off. It was fun while it lasted.'

Channing's co-star Matthew agrees about the pain of waxing, recently admitting the experience made him both laugh and cry.

He said: 'It was like 7:30 in the morning, I go down there, we're in Hollywood, and I go to this little place in the strip mall. And the place is called Smile.

'There's this Russian woman in there, and she's just as formal as you could be, 'In the back, clothes off, lay down, turn over!'

'She's pouring this glue and stuff all over you, and you're sitting there and you're giggling, and all the sudden she lays something on you ... and it hurts! It does hurt!

'And the thing is, after every time she waxed off whatever hair she's pulling, she says, 'So sorry, so sorry, so sorry.' So you just giggle through the tears and hope you only got to do it once.'