15 Chippendales dancers from all walks of life: Nick used to be an Uber Driver, Mozart was in a heavy metal band, David starred in a reality TV show. Some are professional dancers, others stumbled upon the stage. They all set the audience on fire every night at the Chippendales theater at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino and, once a year, they step in front of the lens for the widely popular calendar.
Director of Operations Kat Tabakhov and photographer Christopher DeVargas invited us to spend two days with the ‘boys.’ We filmed them at work — posing, stripping, flexing and goofing around.
ALEJANDRO
The reality TV show [La Isla: Desafio Extremo] was great experience. It was like being on a boot camp —you have nothing, you’re just competing and surviving on the island. It was a lot of tension, but I learned a lot. After four months there, I got out, I think I got PTSD. But Chippendales is family, it’s my home, you know. I’ve been with them for four years and I love the show and performing for our audience and leaving it all on the stage. This is my fourth Chippendales calendar.
Alejandro
ANDRES
I’ve been with Chippendales for a year. My friend Alejandro got me to audition, but I didn’t get the part. I auditioned again a second time, worked real hard on my body and finally made it.
Andres
BRIAN
I started off in New York doing private parties because I needed some extra money and it was fun. Then COVID happened, everything got shut down and I wasn’t able to work. I’ve been with Chippendales for about a year now. I’ve been able to travel with them, I went to Europe, I’m performing for a company with a great name and a great environment —can’t complain.
Brian
DAVID
I did a reality TV show. On there, we had kind of a striptease challenge. My mom told me I should try out for Chippendales. I did, I came to Vegas about six months ago and the rest is history. This is my first calendar shoot: my gym routine and my diet’s kind of been the same but I have not eaten yet today —just water. My cheat meal after shooting? Chinese.
David
DIO
I was at the Rio [hotel] in 2020. I saw the show and I was like, I would love to do that one day. There was a great energy, all the guys looked happy, when they were performing. I was like, I want to be one of them, I want to be there. I’m not a dancer, but I can be a dancer. It’s been almost five years already… yeah, this is my family. From here no more shows: just Chippendales and that’s it.
Dio
GEORGE
This is my first year performing. It’s been incredible. Especially with traveling and getting to see places in the world that I never would have visited on my own. Here we perform in front of 250 people; on the road it’s like 2400, so it’s pretty incredible. I used to be a promotional model —just doing photos on Fremont Street and stuff like that. Kat singled me out. She was like, you’re a handsome man, you kind of stood out against the other guys, can we get you in the show? I told her that performing wasn’t really something that I wanted to do but a year and a half ago, I said I’ll try it, I’ll do it. And it’s been amazing.
One of my favorite parts about being here in the show is the camaraderie: we’re guys, we’ve got testosterone, so there’s some competition that comes with that. But we also have fun with each other.
George
IURY
I moved here seven years ago from Brazil. I started in construction and then I started competing as a bodybuilder and getting bigger. I was on tour for three years with another company —all over the US doing different shows. Then I moved to Vegas and I said, why not try Chippendales? When I first watched the show, I was like, I’m never gonna be able to do that. There’s a lot of dancing and I’m not a professional dancer. It took me 26 days, 6 hours a day to learn most of the show. I’m very grateful to be here and to be part of this team.
Iury
IVAN
I’ve been an acrobat, a circus performer, all my life. I sent some resumes to the Vegas shows and was invited to audition. I showed up and I’ve been here for 2 years and a half. I enjoy the high production values of the show… and the attention.
Ivan
JAYSON
I started performing at Disney in Orlando FL, where I was an equity dance cast member. From there I went up to New York and did the Broadway national tour of Bring it On the musical, which took me from New York all across the US. I moved to Singapore to help open Universal Studios as a vocalist and a dancer there, then came out to LA for a little bit. Heard Vegas was kind of the spot to be, so popped over to Vegas and Chippendales reached out to me on Instagram. They were like, I think you’d be a great fit for the show and nine years later here we are.
As the show host, you really have to bring these people in; you want to be exciting and fun and engaging; you want to open the environment up to them and you want it to feel like a safe space, because this is a show not a lot of people have seen before. You’re taking them outside of their comfort zone, you want them to feel safe and secure and welcome in a place that’s built around sexuality and sensuality —so that they can have fun and enjoy themselves.
Every [cast member] brings something different to the table: their physique, their talents, be it instruments or vocalists or hosting, you know. And I think that’s what makes our brand so original: you’re getting a little bit of everything, you know. It’s not just one carbon copy of a guy. ‘Cause sexuality in a man is based off of everyone’s opinion. To bring a little bit of everything and have diversity in our show is what makes it so great.
Jayson
MATT
I grew up in North Carolina, moved out to Orlando after high school, worked at Disney World for three years, made my way out to Vegas after the pandemic. I’ve done a couple shows here in town. Then one of the managers reached out to me and asked me if I’d be interested in auditioning for Chippendales — not something I ever thought I would do. But after coming to see the show and seeing just how much fun it was, I was definitely happy to come on. It’s been a year and a half now —mostly tours all over the United States and up into Canada.
Matt
MIGUEL
I’m from Puerto Rico. I’ve been in Vegas for 14 years — I love it here, but I miss the island. Before Chippendales, I was in Le Rêve at the Wynn. Chippendales is more than friends, they’re family —I’ve been with them for 7 years already, amazing group of people.
Miguel
MOZART
I go by Mozart the Bohemian for the fact that I have traveled many countries around the planet —home isn’t a place, it’s a state of mind. I was born in the Middle East, came to the US, met Kat [Chippendales’ Director of Operations] in New York City and she was like, what are you doing here? Do you want to go on a world tour? I was playing with a heavy metal band at the time and we were recording and stuff like that. I wouldn’t be able to make it on the tour with Chippendales, but the year after they called me again. I was done with the band and I jumped in and I started doing tours —that’s in 2016, ten years ago. And I went to many countries with them. I went to many countries on my own. I came back here to record an album and I’ve been full time with the show since.
The Chippendales. Mozart in the center
NICK
I was living in Nashville last year and I was working as an Uber driver full-time. Chippendales had just opened the show in Nashville. Kat called an Uber for a ride home and she jumped in my car and I think the first thing she said was, can I ask you a weird question? I said, sure. She said, how tall are you? I said, 6’ 4.” She said, OK, do you have abs? I said, if I don’t eat bread, yeah. And she said, can you dance? Have you ever thought about being a Chippendales? I did not know what Chippendales was. So, she said, why don’t you come audition for us and find out? I showed up to the audition and I thought it went terribly, they thought it went great. I started rehearsals that week and did the show there for roughly 2 months and then the European Tour.
Nick
WILL
The first thing I did was the European Tour, as the dance captain. It was really amazing and I stayed on for about three years after that. I was born and raised in New York: I went to a Catholic school in the Bronx and then attended high school at LaGuardia School of Music and Art in Manhattan.
Will
WILSON
I’m a professional dancer. I started dancing with a company that’s called Black Magic. Kat came to see our show and she told me I was way too good for that show and she literally pried me out of there —so that was about 3 years ago. We give the audience something they never get to feel or see outside of what Chippendales is. Sometimes they get so excited, they can pull you off stage and grab where they’re not supposed to grab.
Wilson
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