Channing Tatum reveals the truth behind the inspiration for his new film, Magic Mike. Last week Thomas ‘Awesome’ Austin and London Steele – two of Channing’s former stripper pals – said the Step Up actor stole the plot for the movie from their own personal life stories and from the lives of other men at the club where he worked. However, Channing denies their claims, explaining, “Those guys have been trying to make money off of me since I got into this business.” The 32-year-old star also accused the two of selling a stripper video featuring Channing to the press for money, which ignited Steven Soderbergh’s interest in making a film about the world of male stripping. “I don’t want to say anything bad about them because they are part of the reason I think their world is so interesting,” said Channing. “They are very interesting, intriguing, bizarre characters, and I’m thankful for weird people out there, I guess.” ~Graeme Mollison