Is Channing Tatum trading in his six pack abs for a slightly less chiselled physique? Reuters is reporting that the 35 year old actor wants to champion the popular 'dad bod' trend sweeping the internet now that his filming commitments to the male stripper sequel 'Magic Mike XXL' have ended.
The film, which hits US cinemas today, is the follow up to the surprise 2012 hit 'Magic Mike'. The new film picks up where the first left off as Magic Mike (Tatum) and his fellow dancers (played by fellow heartthrobs like Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Adam Rodriguez) reunite for a road trip where they plan to stage one last all out performance.
Tatum had to get into rigorous shape for the role, which is loosely based on his own experiences as a dancer. The film makes good use of Tatum's workouts, frequently displaying him sans shirt and performing a wide array of stripper pole acrobatics.
Tatum says that maintaining the Magic Mike physique is no easy task. At the British premiere of the film he told an interviewer:
"My 'Magic Mike' body ... lasts for about five days, like when we're shooting. You time it until that day and then you lose it immediately."
Tatum now wants to relax a little, and will try to become an ambassador for the 'dad bod':
"Even if it's not, I'm going to try to make it 'in'," Tatum said of the "dad bod" at the European premiere of "Magic Mike XXL" on Tuesday night."
The trend began as an internet joke when Mackenzie Person, a student at Clemson University wrote a paper detailing the appeal of the look to women. She says the body is the prefect cross between a beer belly and working out and says that dad bods are less intimidating to the opposite sex.
The web has since took the concept and run with it, naming popular actors like Leonardo Dicaprio, Russel Crowe, and Jason Siegel as prime Dad Bod examples.
