Talking Stripped Down with Crush Daddy and Thomas “Jax” Shute

Crush, for anyone who's never been to Johnson's — set the scene. What's the vibe?

Crush: I think the best word to describe it is like a speakeasy almost. A lot of time and thought was put into the design — not just the actual venue, but the experience a customer has coming in. They wanted to recreate this hidden door type of place, but it’s not seedy. It doesn’t smell like beer in there — they spent money and time on the scent they pump into the room, like casinos do in Vegas. The effort they put in to just really make that place special, you can feel it when you go there. It’s little things — like the bar is made out of pennies.

Jax, you've worked at other clubs. What makes Johnson's the right place for a show like this?

Jax: Johnson’s is advertised as America’s gay strip club — one of the best. I actually agree. A lot of people go to these clubs and expect something grimy. It’s clean in there. A cleaning crew comes in for hours every night and cleans the whole place top to bottom. They redo the floors once a year. And the management has our backs — at other clubs it’s like, you’re on your own, kid. At Johnson’s, if I don’t feel safe or I have an issue with a customer, I can go to a manager. It just runs well. If they were filming this show at any other club, the world would’ve kept the stigma. Johnson’s is one of the classiest environments you can go to.

Six very different personalities, one house, one week. What surprised you most?

Crush: I never felt like the veteran. I’d only been doing it for three or four years at that time — but I guess in the stripping world, that is a really long time. I felt like everyone in that house was successful. I didn’t feel like the senior or the elder. I felt like it was just my friends.

Okay, let's talk about the elephant in the room. You two did not exactly hit it off in episode one. What was going on there?

Crush: I think that was both me and Jax growing up a little bit in two different ways. Stripping is a very cutthroat business — it can make you callous. I was in that mindset. I still remember when he said he was 23 and, yeah, I’m a life coach. My first thought was, you’re 23, how can you coach anyone on life? But I wasn’t seeing that this kid was finding himself — just like I was at 23. I was just being a little harsh. I had a growing up moment: don’t be so harsh on this kid. I was just being a dick. And then he realized his end on it too. We hated each other at first and then kind of realized we were just being judgy towards each other at the same time.

Jax: I’m a spiritual person — you don’t have to like people, you can still choose who you want to be around. But living with him, I got to see a different side of him. At the end of the day, he was trying to maybe help me out and I didn’t understand him. Things happen.

What do you hope people take away from Stripped Down?

Crush: Not everybody that identifies as queer is a hundred percent gay. There are all different colours of the spectrum. That’s a valuable story. That’s really important for all of us to hear.

Jax: I hope the show showcases that we are regular people. It’s just another job. We’re literally just trying to pay our bills and build a dream. If it wasn’t for stripping I wouldn’t have been able to write a book — it’s not cheap, it costs thousands of dollars. And the lifestyle of travelling and teaching yoga that I do wouldn’t be possible without this job. Sex work and stripping really shouldn’t be stigmatized at this point in 2026. You’re selling your body at a warehouse for some millionaire to make his lifestyle. There’s no difference between that and dancing at night.

Last one, Jax — three words to describe your experience on the show. Go.

Jax: Liberating. Stressful — because you don’t know what’s happening in the moment and then it happens and you’re like, this is gonna be for everyone to see. And vulnerable, in a really good way. Jax is a character at the club, but you get to see Thomas. And there’s really not much of a difference — I might have to be a little more strict or salesy as Jax, but I’m still me.