Channing Tatum Shaves His Head in Bold New Look

Channing Tatum showed off a bold — or better yet, bald — new look on his Instagram page Friday. The actor shaved his head, throwing back to the early days of his modeling career.

Tatum posted a photo of himself shaving his head on Instagram, alongside a comparison photo from 2003, long before he became the movie star he is today. “So serious when try’in to get back to that 2003 P Diddy Sean John runway look. Hahaha,” the Magic Mike star wrote.

He also included the hashtags “time to hit the gym,” “calm down,” and “blue steele,” with the last one being a reference to Zoolander.

Before Tatum earned his breakthrough role in Step Up, he worked as a model, appearing in ads for Abercrombie & Fitch and walking the catwalk for Neil Barrett and Sean “Diddy” Combs. Tatum modelled for Neil Barrett at 2002’s Milan Fashion Week, notes MTV. In 2003, he modelled for Marc Ecko at New York Fashion Week. When he walked the catwalk for Sean John that year, he simply wore a leather jacket without a shirt under it, paired with white tights and black boots.

Tatum’s fans embraced the throwback look, with some telling the star he is still “sexy” on Instagram.

“All the looks are fine. I love you as an actor and man. You are a great actor,” one fan wrote.

“You’re a beautiful being CT,” another fan wrote.

“Looking good! Reminds me of Vin Diesel,” added another.

“I am loving this new bald look. You’re rocking it!” wrote another.

The last time Tatum walked the red carpet before cutting his hair was in late November when he traveled to London for the Magic Mike Live premiere there. The show, which started in Las Vegas in 2016, is based on the hit movie franchise that started in 2012 and was followed by a sequel in 2015. Magic Mike was inspired by Tatum’s pre-modelling days as a male stripper in Tampa, Florida.

Entertainment Tonight asked Tatum if he was ever interested in recreating his on-stage dances again.

“Oh, yeah! I’m getting closer to back in shape, but if I’m ever back in shape, I promised the Magic Mike cast of Vegas and London that I will strap on the old thong again,” he told the outlet. “I gotta do it soon because this old body isn’t gonna do what it used to do anymore.”

The new ‘do comes at the end of a tough year for Tatum, who split from wife Jenna Dewan in April. The couple, who share 5-year-old daughter Everly, have both moved on though. Tatum is now dating singer Jessie J, while Dewan is dating actor Steve Kazee.

“People are like, ‘How do you get through this?’ I didn’t run away from my feelings. I let myself cry. I let myself grieve,” Dewan said in a recent Cosmopolitan interview about her life after the divorce. “This is one of those situations where I will see the light. The dawn is coming.”

There was a recent tabloid rumor that Tatum was planning to break up with Jessie J to start dating Ruby Rose, but that was debunked earlier this week.

Photo credit: Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images