Channing Tatum Says He Nearly Turned Down Magic Mike 3 Because 'You Have to Starve Yourself'

Channing Tatum considered not stripping down again for the third installment of Magic Mike.

The actor, 41, revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday that he questioned if he wanted to take on the intense fitness regimen and diet required to reprise his role as Mike Lane for Magic Mike's Last Dance.

"That might be the reason why I didn't want to do a third one," Tatum shared with host Kelly Clarkson as she showed a shirtless photo of him from the second film in the franchise, Magic Mike XXL. "Because I have to look like that."

RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Says He's Willing to Appear in Magic Mike 3: 'Channing Tatum, Call Me, Bro!'

Claudette Barius/Warner Brot/REX/Shutterstock

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

The father of one admitted that he doesn't know how anyone can get into shape without it being a full-time job.

"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.

RELATED: Channing Tatum Teases 'Super Bowl of Stripping' in Magic Mike's Last Dance: 'We're Going to Go Off'

In preparation for the third Magic Mike film, Tatum said he worked out twice a day and ate "completely right."

He also talked about how much work it is to get a six-pack and how quickly it can go away.

"Why — when it takes like, I don't know, two months to get really lean — in three days, you can lose it?" he asked. "It's gone. I was like, 'What happened?' "

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Tatum said that he sadly has to cut out an essential flavor from his foods before stripping down on camera.

"The thing I miss most probably is like, salt," he said, explaining that he eliminates sodium before getting "butt naked onscreen" to reduce bloating.

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

RELATED: Channing Tatum Jokes He's Going 'Natural' with No Waxing for Magic Mike 3: 'It's a New Day'

Channing Tatum confirmed he would reprise his role for Magic Mike's Last Dance — which is set to premiere exclusively on HBO Max — with an Instagram post in November.

"I want it to be the Super Bowl of stripping," he told PEOPLE earlier this month of the final film in the franchise. "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."