How Jenna Dewan Tatum keeps her A-grade body

We chat to Jenna Dewan Tatum about being a dancer, actor and production company owner…oh and about being married to one of the hottest men in Hollywood.

She's been with Channing Tatum for 11 years, which she jokes is “like 55 years in Hollywood”. So how does she feel about (almost) every woman in the universe lusting after ‘Chan’? “I think he’s the sexiest thing in the world, so of course I get why other people think it. It’s always fun and we laugh about it.”

We’re sure plenty of peeps lust after Jenna, too – she’s been a back-up dancer for the likes of Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, appeared in sitcoms, and starred in the film Step Up. So how does she balance marriage, motherhood, career and self love? Read on...

LOVE

1. Emilia Clarke, the British stunner who plays Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, once jokingly suggested a threesome with her and Channing. “I was oblivious because I was so into meeting her. When that bit of info came out later, I was like, ‘Well, shit, wish I had known!’”

2. Channing almost bought Jenna’s engagement ring online. While filming G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, his co-star Sienna Miller caught him wading the web for a ring and put the kibosh on his e-shopping. “‘No, no, no! Call Neil Lane!’ she told him. So I almost had a ring he bought online, but I love him so much for that.”

3. Their Southern US upbringings (Texas for her, Alabama for him) play a role in keeping their relationship grounded. “It’s a sense of wanting the person you’re with to feel good about themselves. We connect on that level. It’s not an arrogant all‑about-me show.”

MOTHERHOOD

4. Jenna found out she was pregnant with Everly just after finishing the pilot for the TV show Witches of East End, and she started filming the remaining episodes when her daughter was just six weeks old.

“I was running back and forth from breastfeeding her to filming a scene, overextending myself on every level.  I realised I have to make priorities, and my family is number one no matter what.” Becoming a mum put a halt to the perfectionist thinking that had

CAREER

5. Gigs as a back-up dancer instilled a ‘make it work’ mindset in Jenna. “Dancers just have that mentality. I’ve done music videos where I was standing on a small table drenched with rain in a sheet metal dress for Toni Braxton. You’re like, I’ll figure it out, I’ll make it work."

6. In the two years before her breakout in the 2006 flick Step Up, Jenna did seven different projects. “I used to be like, I’ve gotta go, go, go! I need to go on 20 auditions and read scripts!”

SELF-CARE

7. She does lowkey getaways. “I love Two Bunch Palms [in California]. They had a full-moon meditation in the yurt. I’m so LA…I totally go for that sit-in-a sound- bath-with crystals- on-my-head or whatever.”

8. She does vedic meditation. “[Meditation coach] Emily Fletcher taught me. I met her in an acting class, and I was struck by her general energy. She taught it to Chan as well, so we had a family learning experience.”

To read more from our interview with Jenna, see what’s really on her menu and get the lowdown on her stay fit smarts, grab the latest issue of Women’s Health, on sale now.