Stripping off in front of hordes of screaming women is a scary experience, according to Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey.

The Hollywood hunks star in Magic Mike, a film about male strippers, which was co-written by Channing, who worked as a stripper before becoming an actor.

"It's definitely scary," admitted the 32-year-old, who joined Matthew at a screening of their new movie in London on Tuesday evening.

"When the curtain's about to move back you're like, 'Why did I want to do this movie again?

"I got out of this for a reason and now I'm experiencing it all over again.'"

Co-star Matthew agreed: "Hell yeah! It's intimidating to go out on stage like that.

"But it also becomes very fun. It's a big buzz."

The film also stars young British actor Alex Pettyfer and True Blood's Joseph Manganellio.

Channing revealed he was not able to prepare his co-stars for the reality of stripping in front of a live audience.

He said: "You can try as much as you possibly can, but those guys - they're not dancers and they haven't done it before.

"But they jumped in so hard and I commend them and respect them immensely for giving it their all."

Photo: � Getty