Male strippers, hitmen and murder: The wild true story behind Disney+'s Welcome to Chippendales.

Looking into the true story behind Welcome To Chippendales, one thing becomes abundantly clear: you could not make this sh*t up.

As horrible as the story behind the strip show is, it’s also very entertaining, making for the perfect television show, with drama, dancing, and plenty of true crime. It’s a wonder it took so long to be adapted for the small screen.

The show, which is currently streaming on Disney+, tells the story of Steve Banerjee, the ruthlessly ambitious founder of Chippendales, the first major male strip joint. 

Here's the true story behind Welcome To Chippendales. 

Watch the trailer for Welcome to Chippendales. Post continues below.

Who was Steve Banerjee?

Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee was an Indian immigrant who hoped to live out his own American dream. 

He worked at a gas station upon arriving in America, and by squirrelling away his earnings, he eventually saved enough money to buy a rundown bar called Destiny II, which he renamed Chippendales.

Banerjee initially tried to draw in customers with female mud wrestling and a 'Female Exotic Dancing Night', however, it was the addition of a male dance troupe in 1979 that put the club on the map. 

As it was the first show to appeal to a female audience, the club grew in popularity quickly. 

How did Chippendales begin?

When Banerjee first opened the club, he updated its offerings and re-decorated. He chose the new name 'Chippendales 'after the wooden furnishing style he chose for the space. 

As the club was just starting out, Banerjee relied on the help of Paul Snider, a local club promoter who was married to the famous Playboy centrefold model, Dorothy Stratten, to get it off the ground.

It was Snider’s idea to boost weeknight sales with a male strip show, having seen something similar on a trip to Canada. He suggested they only allow women into the club on certain weeknights to watch the show and entice more customers. 

While the concept took off immediately, Banerjee and Snider were just using random men they were able to recruit for the show, and as Chippendales became more popular, Banerjee wanted to polish it, leading him to hire Nick De Noia.

Nick De Noia was an Emmy Award-winning television producer, known for his musical short films, Unicorn Tales. 

In the early 1980s, Banerjee brought him on board to help grow Chippendales by choreographing a show, which they eventually turned into a touring troupe of male dancers.

Kumail Nanjiani as Steve Banerjee. Image: Disney+.

The growing success of Chippendales.

With De Noia’s help, the idea of taking the strip show on tour became a reality.

"The partnership between Steve and Nick, you know, became fruitful. And that’s how the clubs took off," Scott Garriola, a former FBI agent and the investigator on the cases the club became embroiled in, said to ABC News.

"Taking Chippendales on the road eventually turned out to be the most lucrative part of the business," he added.

But since it was De Noia taking the show on the road, he was the one who became the face of Chippendales, something that bothered Banerjee. 

As tension grew between the two, Banerjee’s past behaviours were also causing trouble for the business.

The murder of Nick De Noia.

Banerjee often turned to corruption when faced with threats to his success. 

The first major incident of this was in 1979, when he hired someone to burn down a rival nightclub, Moody’s Disco. He attempted the same move five years later with another rival. 

Banerjee, who was desperate to protect the empire he had built, began to resent De Noia for the deal they had agreed to regarding the Chippendales tour. 

Their shared contract, noted down on a cocktail napkin, gave De Noia the rights to the tour, and stated that he and Banerjee would split the touring profits 50/50 in perpetuity.

However, the tour was growing in success, and Banerjee was convinced that De Noia was stealing from him. He then hired Ray Colon, a former police officer and nightclub performer, to enlist a hitman to kill him.

De Noia was shot in the face in 1987 while sitting at his desk in his New York office.

Murray Bartlett as Nick De Noia. Image: Disney+.

The downfall of Steve Banerjee.

De Noia's murder went unsolved, which gave Banerjee more confidence. 

Three years later, he asked for Ray Colon’s help once more; this time to go after Michael Fullington, a former member of Chippendales who had formed a rival troupe, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, who Banerjee felt were competition to his franchise.

However, the hitman went to the FBI instead, leading to Colon's arrest and imprisonment. Colon then agreed to help the police take down Banerjee - a task that took longer than expected. 

After a year of trying to secretly record a confession from Banerjee, Colon finally got him to admit to funding the guns that were used to shoot De Noia.

In 1993, Banerjee was charged with enlisting Colon to commit the murder of De Noia and the attempted murder of the three dancers.

After pleading guilty to crimes of murder for hire, attempted arson, and racketeering, he entered into a plea bargain that saw him sentences to 26 years in prison and lose his share of Chippendales. 

In 1994, just hours before his sentencing for De Noia’s murder, Banerjee died by suicide.

Today, Chippendales is still a wildly successful all-male show based out of Las Vegas. 

While the original club closed in 1998, the company still hosts millions of women every year, billing its show as "a mantastic, sex-god, abs party that will make you lose your damn mind."

You can now stream Welcome to Chippendales on Disney+.

Feature Image: Disney+.

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