Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan Tatum
Channing Tatum (L) and wife Jenna Dewan Tatum celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in July Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Channing Tatum was clearly smitten by Jenna Dewan the first time the two interacted. The Logan Lucky actor recently revealed despite her lack of oral hygiene, he knew he was going to marry her after their initial meeting.

"The very first time I ever met her was at the [Step Up] auditions," he recalled on BBC Radio's The One Show. "She came in for a chemistry read, and she actually interrupted someone else's audition. I think she kind of ruined it and sabotaged somebody.

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"She was really nervous and had bad breath, and I was like, "That's it – you're mine. I'm marrying you.'"

Not only did Dewan get the part but she went on to marry Tatum in 2009 and the two now share a four-year-old daughter, Everly, together.

Today, the couple share, what is considered in Hollywood circles, a strong marriage and often speak about their brilliant chemistry. But Tatum's sense of humour has on occasion, come close to causing trouble and he revealed that he almost made his then-girlfriend cry when he pulled off a rather mean proposal prank.

"When I proposed to my wife I did something pretty cruel because I thought she was on to me. I basically told her I never wanted to get married to try to throw her off," the 37-year-old told Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw.

"I told her, 'I don't believe in the institution of marriage and I don't think I ever want to get married.' She basically broke down crying," the actor said.

"I thought, 'This is not going well at all' so I had to propose to her sooner rather than later."

Tatum had previously opened up about his powerful connection with his wife and the intense reaction he had when she first told him that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

I took this just days after jenna and I (mostly jenna) brought our little girl into the world. I've taken many like it over the past 3 years but this is one of my favorites. She was so tired. Haha. But she has such deep strength and other worldly grace. Watching her in those first days transform into a mother was life changing. She was every bit the beautiful, sexy, funny, flawed creature I fell in love with. But the prism turned and showed a whole new light that I had no idea existed, the light of a mothers love. Thank you for that baby. Saw this quote today --" The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. Theodore Hesburgh" there are a lot of important things in being a father. Who knows what the most important thing is? All I know is that in my case this is pretty high on my list. Love you cake!

A post shared by Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) on

"I knew our connection was really powerful, but I wasn't sure what our relationship was going to be," he wrote in a piece for Cosmopolitan US in May. "Then one day, Jenna just blurted out that she knew exactly what she wanted in life and she didn't have to look for it anymore because it was me.

"She had no idea what I'd say or how I'd react, but that was her truth. I remember feeling this incredible rush — it was the sexiest thing she'd ever done for me," he added. "I felt strength, because in that moment, she had accepted every part of me, the good and the bad. And I knew she wasn't auditioning me or hoping I'd meet some set of expectations. That radical authenticity of hers was what made me fall head over heels in love. Before I experienced it, I wouldn't have known how to ask for it. Now I know it's what I was always craving."

Tatum and Dewan celebrated their 12<sup>th wedding anniversary on 11 July.