heat chats to the multitalented Gok Wan
The fashion stylist-turned-chef-turned-wedding-dress-guruturned-dj talks coping with COVID with Jordan Paramor
The brilliant thing about doing Zoom interviews is that you’re afforded a sneak peek into the usually private world of a celeb’s home. But today things have flipped around and Gok is fascinated by a 5ft-tall plastic figure that is dominating heat’s background. “Oh my god, is that Jesus?” he asks, eyeing up our brightly coloured effigy. “I love that and I want it in my house. You have literally out-camped me.” A compliment from one of the most stylish men in the country? We’ll take it.
Gok is coming to us live from his living room, which is a riot of colour and beautiful furniture, ornaments and a light-up blossom tree (swoon). Nestled neatly in the middle of it all, a very healthy and happy-looking Gok is sporting a new haircut and an “Isolation Nation” hoodie – an homage to his now-legendary lockdown raves.
As well as his regular DJ slots, the 45-year-old fashion guru has kept us entertained during the past few months via his regular cooking slot on This Morning, and he even managed to whip up a new TV series, Gok’s Easy Asian. He’s also on the box (seemingly) 24/7 on Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire. Does this man ever stop working?
Fill us in on Gok’s Easy Asian… It does what it says on the tin. It’s my favourite recipes, learned from my family, that I cook for my friends. The whole series is debunking the myths around Asian food. A lot of people think it’s quite complicated and you have to have loads of specialist ingredients, but now it’s easy to get them online or from a Chinese or western supermarket. We filmed the series when lockdown first happened, so it was literally just me cooking in the kitchen, and we filled the time in between with stories and anecdotes and memories, so it’s also a collection of stories. The show is genuinely one of the things I’m most proud of for that reason. I’ve never been so stripped bare or confident enough to just be myself.
Why was that? Well, I didn’t expect that lockdown would change me as a person quite so quickly. It calmed me and it centred me, because I didn’t have all the chaos and the stimulus from the outside world. The stories are a real mixture and some of it is really beautiful. How did you find lockdown on the whole? I hated it, and I still hate it. I hated having my liberty taken away from me. I hated having my family and friends taken away, too. I am shit with my own company and I don’t trust my mind, because it goes off into a million different places. I constantly feed off other people, and when I haven’t got that, I’m having to rely on myself. I had a really, really tough time of it. However, some massive benefits have come out of it. Such as? I’ve basically got four full-time jobs, so I was so tired and so busy all the time. Then, all of a sudden, my world stopped. I couldn’t use work as a form of escapism, so I had to sit and think and analyse what was going on in my world. When I was younger, I often got told I was thick, because I was fat. A lot of people assume that when you’re fat you’re either really funny or really stupid. I’d always had this slight hang-up about not being intelligent enough. I’ve tried my hardest to be an expert in different areas because I wanted to prove to people that I have a brain. I’ve become stronger and more confident as
I’ve got older, but there’s still a niggly thing in the back of my head, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. But, weirdly, lockdown helped in a way. How? It taught me to sit down and read every newspaper religiously. I watched documentaries and I formed an opinion about coronavirus. As a result, I’ve never felt more knowledgeable about something that wasn’t my job. That was a massive, massive plus for me, and a real hurdle I got over. During lockdown, many people questioned their mental capability and personal strength, analysed relationships with friends and work – everything – and I was the same. But lovely things have come out of it, too.
I’ve been cooking up a storm and delivering food to my neighbours, and that kind of thing really bring communities together. How do you think the world is going to look after all this? Our entire lives are going to be completely different. I remember watching one of the first news reports and the news reader said, “We’ll live in a totally different world at the end of this,” and I was like, “F**k that! No way. We’ll find a vaccine and we’ll be fine.” I was so convinced it was going to be over quickly, I organised a dinner for my friends in May. I even sent out invites, and then very quickly it dawned on me that this was a huge turning point in our lives. We could not have ever imagined what this was going to be like, and I think we’re all going to come out of this as very different people. Who did you isolate with? I isolated on my own with my dog and it made me really question what my environment meant to me, and I was really grateful for it. Living alone, I don’t need to answer to anyone else, and I can do what I want to do. Before lockdown, I probably would’ve been spending the whole time saying, “Arrrgghhh! Why am I still single?” But I haven’t got any of that stuff going on now, I’m just really grateful I can see my mates. Was Dolly the dog amazing company? Oh God , yes, I couldn’t have done this without her. She drives me nuts, but I love her to pieces. Our hugs became longer – I wanted her with me all the time. She felt it, too, though. I think she felt isolated as well. She’s on her own, as she doesn’t have company here apart from me, so for a couple of weeks, we were just roaming around the house together trying
to look after each other. Our dog walks became so important. When you’ve got a dog and you meet someone, it doesn’t matter who they vote for, what they do for a living, the simple fact that they’ve got a dog gives you an instant bond. At times I didn’t have human contact for days, unless I was dog walking, so if I didn’t have Dolly I don’t know what I would’ve done. She was my lockdown partner . [Gok holds his gorgeous French bulldog up to the camera so heat can say hello.]
We’ve all got to face the world again now, which can feel quite scary... That is going to be something we’re going to need to do a lot of work on, building up our confidence again. A lot of people have been behind closed doors, wearing casual clothes and they haven’t been in contact with other people. The first time you go to a party or out for dinner, you have to find your confidence again, because it’s like putting yourself back on show. At the very beginning of lockdown, it felt like people were like, “Game on. I’m going to do what I need to get through this.” But over the last couple of weeks the conversation has changed and it’s been more about weight and body confidence. I’ve probably been subjected to it more than most people because of my job and the conversations I’m having with my friends, so I’m sensitive to it and
I’m looking for it. I think we need to make sure we’re there for people who may need extra support with that kind of thing. What was the first thing you did when lockdown eased? I went for a coffee in my local park. I was so excited I got up at 4am and I was sat in the café at 7am having breakfast and a cup of tea, thinking to myself, “This is what it’s about now.” You can forget all your big fancy holidays and swanky restaurants, these are the important things. Just having that little bit of freedom felt amazing. The café is family run and it reminded me of my dad when the recession hit in the ’80s. Our restaurant was always busy, but I remember walking into the restaurant one day and there was nobody there. My dad was stood at the window looking out, and I will never ever forget that feeling. I felt so helpless, because I was a young teenager and I couldn’t do anything about it. When I found out my local café was open for takeaways again, I went around and rallied the troops and let everyone know. Your Isolation Nation DJ sets have been a huge hit… They have! It’s really grown.
There are hundreds of thousands of people partying away, and they became a firm fixture of lockdown. Did you stay in touch with a lot of people? I religiously text people every morning. I’ve got a broadcast list on my phone and every morning there is a hello, or sometimes an insulting message, depending on what mood I’m in. I kept in touch with Fearne [Cotton] and Alan [Carr] and Sally [Lindsay] and all of the TV lot. God, that sounds terrible, because they’re really close friends of mine, I just happen to know them through TV! There were a lot of phone calls and video chats and messages with everyone and that was massively important. Did you do the Zoom thing? We got everyone together on one call and it was shit and I hated it. It was such a secondary option to actually seeing your friends, and I really didn’t like it. I found it really painful, so we didn’t do it again. I can’t wait to see all my friends for real. I’ve missed everyone so badly. n