Gigi Maguire’s career at the legendary strip club, Magic City, took off after she killed an amateur night and before even walking off stage, the owner offered her a job.
Combining the sex appeal of the pole with her vast technical background in theatrical ballet, Maguire is one of the best pole entertainers to ever do it.
WEtv’s popular series, Beyond the Pole, takes viewers to Atlanta’s hottest clubs and into the lives of the dancers who called them home.
While Maguire once made almost $30,000 in less than thirty minutes on her ‘last dance’ in the industry, the series focuses on the women as they embark on their individual journies as they transition away from the club.
Bringing new light to a highly misrepresented industry, “Every woman has their own path and their own story,” explained Maguire in this exclusive interview.
“I’m so grateful to be able to be a part of a group of women who is here to change that narrative. And to really give people an insight on who we are as women in real life, not just what you perceive us to be because of how we made our money.”
In a conversation with Monsters & Critics, Maguire opened up on breaking industry stereotypes, season two, and life beyond the pole.
Check out our full interview below:
Gigi Maguire on dispelling stripper stereotypes
Due to her long resume of technical dance training, performing and being on stage always felt natural to her. “It was the being nude in front of strangers that I had to initially get used to,” Maguire opened up over Zoom. “But then once you get used to that and see all this money you’re making and all of the attention that you’re getting…It’s just here we are.”
From breaking down what a feature dancer is to what it means to tip out the DJ, the series unveils the unseen details of what it means to work at some of the most well-known clubs in the world.
Revealing that a night can already start out at a loss, Maguire explained, “We pay a lot of money to work. It’s not even just pay to work, once you’re at a certain level or a certain club, then you pay for your make-up to get done or you’re buying a new outfit for a big night.”
When it comes to this industry, hustle is mandatory, as Gigi added, “You’re running up a tab, so not only do you have to make that money back to be able to get ahead for the night, you got to make way more than that as well. So it’s like you always got to get your head in the game and stay focused on what your goals are.”
While Gigi has long retired from dancing and has a gig co-hosting on Angela Yee’s award-winning podcast Lip Service, she shared that she’s happy to be a part of a platform that’s working on dispelling industry stereotypes.
“It feels so good because of the way that people try to make you feel bad in the process of being a stripper. People turn their nose up at you, or they don’t want to date you or they don’t want to be your friend or you know, they look at you in a different light when they find out how you make your money.”
Elaborating, she continued, “You were okay with me and my personality and me as a woman before you found knew what I did to make money so, what changes about me and who I am as a woman just because of how I make my money?”
Despite this, Gigi lives for the approval of no one. “Life goes on because what I don’t do is live for opinions or for anybody else, I live for myself, I live for my child, and as long as I love and appreciate and respect myself and what I’m doing, I’m here for it.”
On Season 2 of Beyond the Pole
If you’ve seen Season 1 of Beyond the Pole, buckle your seat belts because Season 2 features almost a brand new cast.
“In Season 1, the premise was more of everyone is still dancing trying to get out versus Season 2 most of us are already out, so we’re giving you more of a day in the life of what we have going on life beyond the pole,” Maguire explained.
“We are entrepreneurs. We have dreams and goals and aspirations. We are mothers. We have all of these things going on and you really get an insight into the real life of a dancer in raw form.”
Check out other interviews with What the Flocka’s Tammy Rivera and Cartel Crew’s Nicole Zavala.
Beyond the Pole airs Thursdays at 9/8c on WEtv.