Salma Hayek says Channing Tatum “nearly killed” her during lap dance

Salma Hayek has said Channing Tatum “nearly killed” her while rehearsing a lap dance scene for Magic Mike’s Last Dance.

The actor, who plays Maxandra Mendoza in the third film in the franchise, recalled a rehearsal for a lap dance routine that went wrong after Hayek was flipped upside down.

“You know, there’s one part that’s not in [the film] where I’m upside down and my legs had to be somewhere,” Hayek told Jimmy Kimmel while discussing the scene.

“But upside down, one loses sense of direction, and I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, so in the rehearsal, I went like, head down, almost hit my head.”

She continued: “[Channing] held on to my pants, but I was really concerned because my pants were going away, and I couldn’t remember if I had underwear or not in this moment,” she continued. “So, instead of putting my hands to protect my head, I just held onto the pants. He’s like, ‘Put your hands up,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no.’

“Everybody came in and kind of took me away from him, and he said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ I said, ‘What’s wrong with me? You nearly killed me!’”

Hayek is replacing Thandiwe Newton in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, with Newton denying last year that she was fired.

In a statement, a spokesperson (via The Guardian) said: “Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike’s Last Dance to deal with family matters.”

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is released in cinemas on February 11.