Is 'Welcome to Chippendales' Character Denise Coughlan a Real Person?

May 2024 · 5 minute read

Juliette Lewis stars as outspoken gown clothier Denise Coughlan in Hulu's true-crime collection 'Welcome to Chippendales.' Is she in line with a real person?

Bianca Piazza - Author

Before we get into it, we just need to profess our love for Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis. With an appeal to wacky characters, Juliette has killed it in electric movies and TV presentations like 1991's Cape Fear, 1993's Kalifornia, and Showtime's viral new thriller sequence Yellowjackets. Her efficiency in Hulu's scripted true-crime series Welcome to Chippendales is simply as fascinating.

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From creator Robert Siegel — who also created true-crime sequence Pam & Tommy — Welcome to Chippendales centers on the lesser-known tale of the titular unique male dance revue.

Furthermore, it "tells the outrageous story of Somen 'Steve' Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani), an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the world’s greatest male-stripping empire — and let nothing stand in his way in the process."

Among the many of us Steve Banerjee hires to help carry the Chippendales logo (infamously, his trade partner, Nick De Noia, did not make it out alive) is Juliette Lewis's character, a scrappy dress dressmaker named Denise Coughlan. But did she exist in real lifestyles?

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Much of Denise Coughlan's storyline is fabricated for 'Welcome to Chippendales.'

Per The Cinemaholic, “vision facilitator” and “gown designer” Denise Coughlin most probably isn't a direct illustration of any exact Chippendales worker. She does, alternatively, seem to be an iteration of Chippendales' "den mother," Candace Mayeron.

In the collection, as she spends night after night at Chippendales' L.A. membership within the early 1980s — sipping on cocktails till words develop into difficult — Denise consistently tries to get the eye of Emmy-winning choreographer and artistic director Nick De Noia (Murray Bartlett). She tells the uptight Chippendales worker how a lot she "f--king loves this place" until he finally bites.

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"This could be huge. This could be global. Chippendales — this could be a chain! Anywhere that there are women who want to cut loose and finally take control of things, like men, for a night? Huge!" she tells Nick in Episode 2.

After spewing nonsense about destiny, she almost begs for a task. "I custom stud, I appliqué jackets, capes, I even had my own clothing line for a while," she exclaims.

Still, Nick thinks she's just some other drunk gal word-vomiting into his lap. But when she evaluations the dancers' lackluster costumes, Nick perks up. Denise deems the skimpy costumes as generic and unoriginal; they're lacking that "wow factor."

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Everything changes when she gifts Nick along with her invention: breakaway pants. She's then hired at the spot and the two in the end shape a close bond.

As for the real-life Candace Mayeron, there's no proof that she was a costume fashion designer. She did, then again, act as the show's associate manufacturer from the early Eighties to 1987, in accordance to her interview with Elle.

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"I ran a tight ship, because I wanted our people to be respected and to act in a manner that would cause us to be respected. I helped Nick De Noia, our brilliant producer and choreographer, turn our guys into Chippendales men. I helped him hire men, do bookings, and manage the dancers," Candace stated of her position.

She additionally aided in capturing photos for the Chippendales calendar, dealing with merchandising, and hiring and coaching hosts and waiters.

Aside from Denise's look mimicking Candace's, the principle similarity between the two pertains to their relationship with Nick.

"I asked one of the waiters, 'Who is the genius behind all this?' He pointed to a very attractive silver-haired man standing in the back of the room. It was Nick De Noia. Our relationship evolved organically," she mentioned.

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Shockingly, Candace believes she was on the phone along with her shut friend Nick minutes before he was killed via a hitman that Steve Banerjee had employed.

"I was on the phone with Nick when he suddenly said, 'I can’t talk, I got to go.' That was our last phone call ever. I believe we were actually talking when his murderer walked in."

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Where is Candace Mayeron now?

Candace first of all happened upon Steve's establishment again when it used to be a floundering backgammon nightclub, as she possessed a love for the game.

Today, she's nonetheless a fierce competitor, acting as the tournament manufacturer of Gammon Associates West. The Cinemaholic discussed that the U.S. Backgammon Federation even venerated Candace with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021 for her long-held dedication to the two-player board sport.

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The group known her for her "innovative leadership in bringing show-business glamour and excitement to backgammon events with Oscar-like awards, banners and backdrops, red carpets, and raffles."

Aside from that, Candace has been the vice chairman of Him & Her Productions since 2008, as detailed via her LinkedIn account.

Though she'll post the occasional Facebook photo of herself alongside a man who appears to be her husband, no longer much else is known about Candace's personal existence post-Chippendales.

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