Cardi B

With the success of “Bodak Yellow,” her debut rap single, Cardi B is slated to become the next big thing in music. But it wasn’t easy getting there. In an interview with Vibe, the Bronx-born rapper revealed that she stripped for four years at local joints before moving on to lucrative clubs in Manhattan to financially support herself.

“There was two pit bulls in that house, and I had asthma. There was bedbugs, too,” she said. “On top of that, I felt like my ex-boyfriend was cheating on me, but it was like even if he was cheating on me, I still can’t leave because—where was I gonna go?”

Chris Pratt

Before striking gold in the Marvel universe, Pratt stripped for $40 a gig—mainly birthday parties, including one for a grandmother, he told GQ UK. Pratt’s stripping career eventually ended when he auditioned for a full-time job at a club and realized we wasn’t good enough for the pro life.

“I did go one time and audition on a stage for a club, but I don’t think I got the job. I don’t think I’m a very good dancer,” he told BuzzFeed.

Brad Pitt

In college at the University of Missouri, Pitt stripped in a group called the “Dancing Bares.” And though the actor has never publicly spoken about the job, his fraternity brothers opened up to In Touch about his stripper past.

“Once, during Spring Fling, Brad tanned the letters of the sorority house we were grouped with on his butt. He mooned the whole crowd. Everyone thought it was hysterical,” one brother said.

“When a girl from one of our sister sororities turned 21, the Bares would put her in a chair and come out butt-naked with pillowcases on their heads and do a choreographed dance for her,” another added.

Amber Rose

From ages 18 to 25, Rose stripped as her primary source of income. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, the model gushed about her time as a stripper and how it helped her embrace her body and sexuality.

“That was the best time of my life!” Rose said.  “Oh my god, I had so much fun. I really did. All the girls were really cool. The guys weren’t allowed to touch you. I was never sexually assaulted or [anything]. I was young, beautiful, I was onstage, I wasn’t really ashamed of my body. I made lifelong friends.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones

According to the New York Daily News, Zeta-Jones stripped in her early career to pay for cosmetic procedures she believed she needed to make it as an actress. The paper reported that the “Chicago” star stripped to fund a nose job.

Channing Tatum

It’s well-known that Tatum’s stripper past was the basis for his 2012 film, “Magic Mike.” In the 90s, the actor stripped under the stage name, “Chan Crawford.” And while Tatum’s used his experience to inspire two blockbuster films, he doesn’t miss stripping in the slightest.

“I don’t miss anything about stripping,” he told People. “I stripped in Tampa for like 25 girls, at best. It wasn’t glamorous whatsoever, so there’s nothing that I miss about stripping. This isn’t stripping. This is a show.”

Dita Von Teese

Before breaking into the beauty industry, Dita Von Teese was a stripper for a club in California. Despite shifting careers, the cosmetics mogul doesn’t look back on the time with regret.

“I started working there, a fish out of water, performing in vintage lingerie and corsets and developing my burlesque shows,” she said. “Doing striptease empowered me.”

Javier Bardem

Bardem’s stripping career was short-lived. In an interview with The Times, the actor was fooling around and pretending to strip with some friends at a bar one night when the owner approached him for a real gig. When Bardem stripped for real, he found it a lot different than when she was just playing pretend.

“I did it as a joke, for some friends at first. But a guy in the bar we were in spotted me and hired me for the next day,” he said. “I was so bad, I did it to ‘Leave Your Hat On,’ and I had to get my mother and sister to cheer me on.”

Lady Gaga

Prior to hitting it big on the pop charts, Gaga was stripping at a club in New York City—a job she said she made more money with than waitressing. In an interview on “Watch What Happens Live,” the singer delved into her burlesque dancing past and how she was comfortable stripping in public, given her upbringing.

“I made more money stripping than waitressing,” Gaga said. “I didn’t show too much—I was a burlesque dancer. Because my family’s European, for me it wasn’t that weird and I didn’t do anything super seedy—although my dad didn’t think so.”

Blac Chyna

Before joining the E! network as a Kardashian-adjacent reality star, Blac Chyna was a stripper at the King of Diamonds gentlemen’s club in Miami. In a Facebook live, Chyna admitted that, if she hadn’t found fame, she would likely still be stripping.

“I would probably be still in the strip club. I’m just keeping it real,” she said. “I can’t do nothing else.”