Channing Tatum

Tatum was born on April 26, 1980, in Cullman, Alabama, to Kay Tatum (née Faust), an airline worker, and Glenn Tatum, a construction worker. He has a sister named Paige. He is of Irish, French, and German ancestry. His family moved to Gautier, Mississippi, in the Pascagoula area, when he was six. Until he was ten years old, he lived in a rural setting near the bayous along the Pascagoula River.

Tatum has discussed having dealt with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia while growing up, which affected his ability to do well in school. Growing up, Tatum played football, soccer, track, and baseball; he has said that "girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school." As a child, he practiced wuzuquan kung fu.

Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa area, where he initially attended Gaither High School. His parents wanted more effort and gave him the option of selecting a private high school or attending a military school; he chose Tampa Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic. He later attended Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia on a football scholarship, but dropped out. He returned home and started working odd jobs.

Us Weekly reported that around this time Tatum left his job as a roofer and began working as a stripper at a local nightclub under the name "Chan Crawford". In 2010, he told an Australian newspaper that he wanted to make a film about his experiences as a stripper. That idea led to the film Magic Mike. Tatum moved to Miami, where he was discovered by a model talent scout.