The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively that 41-year-old Michael Angelo Sorrentino, who worked alongside Channing as a dancer at the Chippendales-style revue Male Encounter in Tampa, Fla., in the late-’90s, is currently behind bars at the Brevard Correctional Institution in Cocoa, Fla.
Sorrentino – who’s been arrested numerous times for drug-related offenses – went to prison after being busted during a 2009 sting operation in Tampa.
He’d agreed to deliver 70 oxycodone pain pills to an undercover cop at a convenience store parking lot. He’s scheduled to remain behind bars until 2016.
And while Channing, 32, claims the new film is partially based on his experiences as a stripper, his former co-workers say his character – Magic Mike Martingano – is based on Sorrentino.They’ve also accused him of stealing THEIR stories for the movie!
“He only danced for FOUR months,” griped former stripper Thomas “Awesome” Austin, who claims he gave Sorrentino the “Magic Mike” nickname. “How many events could have happened to him?”
The film also stars Matthew McConaughey, whose character, Dallas, is loosely based on stripper-turned-club owner London Steele.
London trained the then-inexperienced 18-year-old Channing to gyrate for eager ladies under the stage name “Chan Crawford.”
He also knew the real Magic Mike well. “I took Channing under my wing,” London told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview. “He was shy at first, but he learned how to move and work the crowd.
“Mike didn’t need any help in that department. He was a wild guy, a natural and very likeable. The women just loved him.
“Channing and Mike got along, but they were completely opposites. Channing was more reserved until he got on stage. And Mike’s life took a whole different turn than Channing’s. I’m not shocked Mike’s in jail, but I’m disappointed.”