These 10 Celebs Used to be Exotic Dancers
For most people, climbing your way up the ladder to get to the top in Hollywood isn’t easy. Some people work in restaurants. Others sell clothes. And some of them take their clothes off until they get famous. You’re not going to believe some of these now famous celebrity names that have pole dancing on their resumes.
#1 Blac Chyna
Blac Chyna might be a famous musician and entrepreneur now but she didn’t take the easy route there. She went to university at Johnson & Wales University in Miami and to fund her education she was a stripper. She stopped dancing for a time when she was in school but she ended up dropping out and started erotic dancing full-time. She worked at Miami’s King of Diamonds and said that she made $15,000 in a single night one time.
#2 Lady Gaga
This probably doesn’t surprise most of you reading this, but Lady Gaga admitted to working as as a stripper when she was 18. She recalled that her outfits were wild and were often made of black leather. Her favorite bands that she liked to dance to included Guns N’ Roses, Black Sabbath, and Faith No More. She also said she used to light hairspray on fire on stage, and that dancing gave her personal freedom through sexuality and the beautiful naked human body.
#3 Courtney Love
Courtney Love might be best known for being the lead singer of Hole and being the mother of Kurt Cobain’s child, but before she dedicated her life to music, she was a dancer at clubs like the Seventh Vail and Jumbo’s Crown. She says that she earned up to $300 a day and she used that money to start her band, Hole.
#4 Brad Pitt
While this cutie attended the University of Missouri, he was in the group Dancing Bares. This all male nude-y group would celebrate a sister sorority girl’s 21st birthday by taking their clothes off, putting pillow cases on their heads, and then they would carry the girl out on a chair. Once outside, they would put the chair down and do a choreographed dance for her and everyone else who came to watch the show.
#5 Channing Tatum
There is a reason why the Magic Mike move was so good- it was written by Channing and based on his real life experiences as a male stripper. Channing used the stage name Chan Crawford when he was in Male Encounter, which was an all-male revue group in Florida.
#6 Diablo Cody
You may not recognize her name, but this pretty lady is behind the blockbuster hits “Juno” and “Jennifer’s Body.” After working as a secretary and hating every minute of it, she decided to do something reckless and entered into an amateur stripping competition. She loved it! Thus began her one-year career as a stripper. She wrote a book about her time as an exotic dancer in the book “Candy Girl: A Year In The Life Of An Unlikely Stripper.” She enjoyed her experience so much that she still uses her stripper-name today! Diablo Cody isn’t her given name.
#7 Maliah Michel
This hot dancer appears in music videos and tabloids all over the country, thanks to her ties with Drake. Maliah is the best case scenario of what can happen if strippers do their job well. Starting out as a stripper in Houston, Texas, she is now one of the most popular dancers in the music industry.
#8 Chris Pratt
The sexy “Parks And Recreation” star used to make extra cash working as an amateur stripper. He often danced at local bachelorette parties. Chris said that he’s always loved to get naked, ever since he was a little kid, so he thought that he might as well get paid for it.
#9 Cardi B
Cardi B is open about everything from her sexuality to her time as a stripper. She was an erotic dancer for three years. She used the money to help her build her career. She saved up a massive $20,000 from stripping! She continues to talk about her time as a dancer to help bring awareness and normalize it.
#10 NeNe Leakes
Famous for her part in The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Leakes feels that her time as a stripper was empowering. In her book, “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice,” she says that she started stripping to help pay the bills as a single mother. She danced under the name Silk and found her way to financial independence because of stripping.