Channing Tatum says he almost didn't film 'Magic Mike 3' because 'you have to starve yourself'

• Channing Tatum, 41, said he almost didn't reprise his role in "Magic Mike's Last Dance."
• Tatum said on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" that his hesitance had to do with his health.

Channing Tatum said he almost didn't appear in "Magic Mike's Last Dance" because of the intense process getting in shape requires.

On Thursday, the "Dog" actor appeared on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" and spoke about the franchise's upcoming third film. At one point, Clarkson displayed a shirtless photo of Tatum from the franchise's second film, "Magic Mike XXL."

"That might be the reason why I didn't want to do a third one, because I have to look like that," Tatum, 41, said.

Tatum then explained that it's difficult to maintain his "Magic Mike" physique.

"It's hard to look like that. Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in shape is not natural," Tatum said. "That's not even healthy. You have to starve yourself. I don't think when you're that lean, it's actually healthy."

Tatum, who's been romantically linked to Zoë Kravitz, continued that he doesn't know how people with a full-time job can stay in shape.

"I don't know how people who work a 9 to 5 actually stay in shape because it's my full-time job, and I can barely do it," he said.

Tatum said during the interview he's worked out twice a day and ate "completely right" ahead of the film. He also noted that the ingredient he missed most amid his fitness and diet regime was salt. Tatum said he doesn't ingest sodium before being "butt naked on screen."

"Just everything tastes like — I don't know — tastes like water," he said. "It's nothing."

Representatives for Tatum did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Tatum delighted fans in November 2021 when he confirmed "Magic Mike's Last Dance" was greenlit, and he would reprise his role as Mike Lane.

"Well world, looks like Mike Lane's tapping back in," Tatum wrote in an Instagram caption.

"I want it to be the Super Bowl of stripping," Tatum told People's Kara Warner this month. "I want dancing like we've never been able to do in the other two movies, because we had to be honest to what the reality of that world is, which isn't great dancing."