Channing Tatum had 'man crush' on late Magic Mike XXL co-star Stephen 'tWitch' Boss
Channing Tatum paid a moving tribute to his Magic Mike XXL co-star Stephen 'tWitch' Boss at the Dance Hall of Fame Ceremony in Los Angeles.
Channing Tatum had a "man crush" on his late Magic Mike XXL co-star Stephen 'tWitch' Boss.
The 45-year-old actor held back tears as he reflected on his admiration for Stephen - who took his own life at the age of 40 in December 2022.
Speaking at the Dance Hall of Fame Ceremony in Los Angeles on Wednesday (03.12.25), Channing said: "I promised myself I wasn't going to cry.
"I do this because tWitch made me laugh all the time. But to say that it's an honour to sit up here and talk about that man is an understatement to say the least. I sat for a while, and I was like, 'What am I going to tell them?' Because lots of people her might've known tWitch much longer or more intimate than I did. I got to work with him, and I got to work with him for a good amount of time."
The Roofman star continued: "As I was just sitting here watching that video and you just see his face and it all, you really need to see.
"He just was one of the most brilliant, bright (people). He just loved so big. He just loves so big and that's why he just shines so much."
Channing and tWitch worked together on the 2015 movie Magic Mike XXL but the heartthrob explained that he first became aware of the late performer after seeing him on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance.
He recalled: "My brain just couldn't wrap itself around how this giant, big beautiful man was moving the way he was.
"I was a bigger guy, and I couldn't fathom moving like that, and then he had to go and open his stupid mouth and be funny as well. That p***** me off. I was like, 'Hold on a second.' And then he smiles at you and then you fall in love with him, and then that's just tWitch."
Tatum added: "He made us all fall in love with him and he rose everyone in the room. He came in the room, just, I don't know, he just filled it up. He filled it up.
"He made you want to be better at anything that you wanted to be. He accepted you for who you were, who you wanted to be or wherever you were going. He wanted to help and he wanted to be there."
Channing also expressed how grateful he was to be friends with Boss.
He joked: "I guess a man crush. Maybe it was because we're both from Alabama and I just felt some sort of kinship to him. Roll Tide, by the way. I'm sure he yelled it back and is laughing at me right now.
"It was an honour to know him. It was an honour to call him a friend, and I will see him again."
