Channing Tatum just made the most hilariously relatable parenting confession about his daughter Everly

The Magic Mike star is dad to Everly, 10, with ex-wife Jenna Dewan.

Channing Tatum on Today show
(Image credit: Getty)

Channing Tatum just made the most hilariously relatable parenting confession about his daughter Everly when it comes to setting boundaries.

The Magic Mike star is father to 10-year-old Everly and while he's rarely shown any photographs of his daughter, he's spoken out about the parenting challenges he faces - and it turns out it's so relatable.

While many parents look for TikTok hacks for flying with toddlers in the hope they will avert a meltdown, others prefer to keep the kids quiet with Julia Donaldson's classic books on BBC iPlayer. But whatever your method, there's always that feeling of guilt over the boundaries you set your children.

Speaking on the Today show, Channing opened up on fatherhood and the importance of setting boundaries with his daughter Everly, who he shares with ex-wife Jenna Dewan.

When asked what kind of parent he is, he replied, "I’m just trying to get by, I think just like every other parent, you’re just kind of trying not to mess kids up, but you know you’re going to on some level.”

And he revealed his outlook on parenting has changed in recent years. He explained, "When I knew I was going to have a kid…I planned to be the parent, actually, that was probably going to get my kid into more trouble than I kept her out of. And as they get older, you kind of realise, ‘I have to set boundaries.’”

“Even though they don’t want boundaries, they do want boundaries,” he said. “Her anxiety goes down, her stress level goes down when she just understands the rules.”

Channing Tatum on the Today show with Hoda Ktob and Jenna Bush Hager

(Image credit: Getty)

And while Channing might have switched from being the 'good cop' parent to the 'bad cop' he's able to identify that his own upbringing has affected the way he raises his own daughter and how he's developed his own type of Tiger parenting technique.

He explained, "I was raised very, very different. South — dad just, ‘Touch that again, you’re going to get a whipping’ sort of situation and we don’t spank Evy, so it’s one of those gentle kind of things, but having to learn where to be strong, where to be firm, but not in the way I was.”

Channing has released his own children's book, the third in the Sparkella collection - The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie, which follows on from The One and Only Sparkella Makes a Plan and his debut title The One and Only Sparkella books.

And the books are Channing's way of expressing himself as a parent, he added, “I was looking up YouTube on how to braid hair. Like, I didn’t want to be the dad that was just delivering a kid to school looking like she had just slept on the street.” 

Selina Maycock
Senior Family Writer

Selina is a Senior Family Writer for GoodtoKnow and has more than 16 years years of experience. She specialises in royal family news, including the latest activities of Prince George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie and Lilibet. She also covers the latest government, health and charity advice for families. Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism, and gained her NCTJ and NCE qualifications. During her career, she’s also written for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, and Woman's Weekly as well as Heat magazine, Bang Showbiz - and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. When she's not covering family news, you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories (including award-winning scarecrows!)