Channing Tatum talks diving into his seven-year-old ‘daughter’s world’ by wearing tutus and pink

Channing Tatum reveals he initially feared not being able to connect with his seven-year-old daughter Everly, after becoming a single father. 

Following his divorce from Jenna Dewan after nearly nine years of marriage in 2019, the Magic Mike star worried he wouldn’t be able to relate to his little girl, who he gushed is ‘bold, beautiful and magical in every way’ in a new interview with Parents. 

In an effort to dive into his ‘daughter’s world’ and discover who she is, the 40-year-old father became comfortable wearing tutus, face paint and learned to braid hair. 

‘When I became a single father, I had a lot of fear about connecting to Everly in every way that a little girl might want. 

‘I didn’t wear nail polish or know how to braid hair,’ he told the outlet. ‘But now I do both.’

Tatum continued: ‘I jumped with both feet into this magical world, and I was rewarded with a kind of love that I don’t think I would have ever been able to have otherwise.’ 

All the quality time with his youngster under quarantine amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic eventually inspired his book, The One and Only Sparkella, out on May 4.     

He first announced his upcoming picture book on Instagram with an image of him wearing a pair of pink fairy wings surrounded by stuffed animals and dolls in August. 

‘Guys, I don’t know about you but things got a little weird for me in quarantine,’ he captioned his Instagram post. 

‘I ended up accidentally locking myself in my 7 year old daughter’s room. And I ended up finding my inner child.’ 

‘So this is what I created for my little girl,’ he went on. ‘From what is, I guess, the little girl in me. Thanks for reading.’ 

The book is described as a ‘charming ode to self-esteem and the love between a father and daughter’ on its website. 

After the protagonist, a girl named Ella, is teased for her glittery ribbons, disco-ball shoes and eating a PB&J-with-sprinkles sandwich, she ‘decides to try to be less sparkly at school.’

Her dad, however, encourages her to stay unique and the little girl ‘soon learns the importance of just being herself, no matter what other people say.’