He's part of a rare breed. A male stripper who has managed to survive for almost 20 years in a cutthroat industry that's renowned for more downs than ups. And during two decades of shimmying in his jocks, Sydney-based performer Dave Hughes has seen it all. From fending off boy-hungry cougars in Sin City, to the rise of the full-frontal obsession; fasten your seatbelts as this industry veteran reveals the truth about the world of male stripping β the naked truth.
They'll try to drag you into the toilets β¦ especially older women who have a thing for younger guys. Heaps of things. In fact, it's regarded as being funny. There's a definitely double standard there. Now working as part of Sydney Hotshots, the year-old has been in the game since he was But the hunk's journey to the stage began when he was only He was travelling the world, stripping for a living, and I just wanted to be like him. I did my first strip routine at my year 12 formal where I stripped out of my tux.
I had a couple of guys as backup dances β we were right into it! Though Dave doesn't recall any jitters back then, when he dipped his toe into the family business for the first time professionally soon after leaving school, it was a different story. I was just walking around. It was horrible!
But the girls loved it anyway. Back then it was way simpler. In a case of 'shake it till you make it', Dave joined a local group to learn the ropes "living on the Gold Coast I'd get about five or six gigs per week at various nightclubs" before making the leap and joining what was then Australia's biggest strip troupe, Manpower, at the age of 19, which led him to Las Vegas.
A city that would become his home for the next decade. We'd get bachelorette parties and girls on spring break coming to town for only a few days. Every night they were trying to drag us out. You'd end up going out and then next thing you knew it'd be 10 in the morning. It was crazy. The definition of Sin City. With alcohol in the mix and inhibitions loosened, this is hardly an environment that's conducive to maintaining a long-term relationship. When we surmise that the then-Lothario had a different girl every week, we're bang on.
