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Just like the rest of us, Channing Tatum is just trying not to 'mess up' his kid.

It turns out that you can have all the money and hired help in the world and you’ll still worry about stuffing up your kids.

Channing Tatum – Magic Mike actor and all-round DILF – set hearts ablaze when he separated from his ex-wife, Jenna Dewan, in 2018. But becoming a single parent to their daughter, 10-year-old Everly, hasn’t been easy for the 43-year-old.

“I didn’t plan to be a single dad, that was not in the cards [or] in my planning at least,” Tatum told TODAY with Hoda and Jenna.

Watch: Jenna Dewan-Tatum do 'Pony'. Post continues after video.


Video via Paramount Network.

“And I was pretty nervous. I was like, ‘She’s a girl’. I was like looking up YouTube on how to braid her hair. I didn’t want to be the dad who was just delivering a kid to school looking like she had just slept on the street.”

But five years on, Mike, sorry I mean Tatum, still doesn’t have a clue about what kind of parent he is. He’s just winging it – like everyone else.

“I have no idea, I don’t know,” he said laughing. “I’m just trying to get by. I think like every other parent, you’re just trying not to mess your kids up. But you know you’re going to.”

YouTubing how to braid your daughter’s hair? Sounds like you’re winning at #dadlife to us!

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Oh and by the way, did I mention the actor authors children's books?

After penning the first The One and Only Sparkella in 2021, Tatum is back with his third book, The One and Only Sparkella and The Big Lie

And he says the books (along with YouTube) have helped him be a better parent.

“This series of books kind of came from that,” he said. “It was really trying to figure out how to talk to a little girl.” 

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“When I knew I was going to have a kid, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m probably going to be the parent – I plan to be the parent – who was probably going to get her in more trouble than I kept her out of’. And then as they kind of get older, you start to realise, ‘Oh, I have to set boundaries.’

“And weirdly, kids, even though they don’t want boundaries, they do want boundaries. Her anxiety goes down, her stress level goes down when she just understands the rules. And they’re not even your rules – we call them house rules.”

So, what are the rules in the Tatum household? Well, there’s no leniency when it comes to famous parents, apparently. 

Listen to the hosts of The Spill discuss whether this Channing Tatum interview should even exist. Post continues after podcast.


“You gotta always take your plate to the sink, you gotta pick up your clothes, you gotta brush your teeth – just really normal simple stuff,” said the father-of-one. 

Tatum had previously said that his daughter helped him become a more creative person.

“I could've never known that I was going to be a girl dad,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

“What I do know now is that I've been more creative in my relationship with Evie than I ever have been in my career. 

"She's pushed me past any limits that I thought I had. Evie demands 100 per cent of my creative, emotional attention at all times."

Image: Getty + Instagram + Mamamia.

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