Before making it big in Hollywood, some celebrities were strippers.

Lady Gaga was an exotic dancer in the Lower East Side and Channing Tatum used to perform at a strip club in Tampa, Florida.

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Stars like Channing Tatum and Cardi B are known for their success in movies and music. But before breaking through Hollywood, they took jobs as strippers to earn money – and they’re not the only stars who have turned to exotic dancing.

There are many other celebrities who revealed that they were strippers, whether it was for a weekend, a few months, or several years.

Keep reading to find out which celebrities shared this same job.

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes worked as an exotic dancer for years, and views the experience as empowering.

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She competed on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2014.

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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly

In her 2009 memoir titled “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice,” Leakes explained what prompted her to start stripping. At the time, she was a single mother struggling to pay rent and support her son. Leakes took a job as a stripper under the name “Silk” and said that she felt “powerful” as a dancer.