Welcome to Wrexham had a very special guest in the locker room during this week’s episode — and he brought those signature Magic Mike moves.
Channing Tatum accompanied Ryan Reynolds to a Wrexham AFC soccer (football in Wales) game during the Thursday, May 29, episode of the FX docuseries.
“I was just doing my usual match routine and Ryan walks in, and he’s brought another friend with him,” Wrexham midfielder Elliot Lee recalled. “From minute one, it was like we were just having banter like he was one of the lads and [we were] joking around.”
The athletes played Ginuwine’s “Pony” — a song made famous by Tatum in 2012’s Magic Mike — when the actors walked into the locker room. Tatum, being a good sport, started dancing to the song — much to the enjoyment of all the players.
Reynolds, 48, told the team, “He will drink you under the table,” when walking Tatum around the room. “I’m not actually even joking,” Reynolds added.
Lee noted that meeting stars like Tatum in the locker room is “different” from any other team. “It’s just part of Wrexham,” he added.
Tatum attended the game with Reynolds after meeting the players. Even though Wrexham tied Cambridge United, Tatum still got a chance to go out with the boys.
“Ryan was scheduled to leave straight after the Cambridge match but we heard that Channing was shooting a commercial with us on Monday, so we knew he was staying around the town,” Lee said. “Obviously, it being my 30th birthday party that night, we took the opportunity to invite Channing to the bash.”
Lee teased that it was “a great night” but didn’t offer any specific details. He did say it would “live long in the memory,” however.
Tatum teamed up with Wrexham to film a STōK Cold Brew Coffee’s Super Bowl LIX commercial. (The coffee brand is a Wrexham team sponsor.)
In the ad, Tatum teaches the soccer team how to have better “celebration dances” using the cold brew. By the end of the commercial, everyone is dancing to the 1990 hit “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C+C Music Factory.
“Channing Tatum is actually magic, though,” Reynolds gushed in his confessional. “Way back in 2006 — almost 20 years ago — he danced in a movie. He’s 26 years old and people were like, ‘This kid can dance.’ So, he made a bunch more movies including a couple about a certain magic Mike, maybe you’ve heard of them?”
Reynolds continued, “Now, he’s almost 45. I mean, [the dancing is] all him. No wires, no CGI. Just entirely made of magic. He’s boneless, he had no bones! Talk about built to last. You can’t dance like that in your 40s.”
Reynolds also offered some insight into Tatum’s mysterious night out with the Wrexham players.
“I’m gonna read you Channing’s texts to me on the night in question,” Reynolds said.
“Oops! I might have had too much fun with the boys. We definitely got more loose than I was ever planning to. It happened and I’m sorry,” Tatum apparently wrote in several text messages. “It’s definitely going to be on the Internet.”
Reynolds concluded, “F***ing magic Mike.”
New episodes of Welcome to Wrexham premiere on FX Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET and are streaming via Hulu the following day.
