‘I haven’t held anything back – I think people will change their minds about me’
THE camera never lies, it is said, and what you see on telly is exactly what you get. Gok Wan would beg to differ. It’s not that he hasn’t been himself, winning an army of fans and becoming one of the most recognisable faces on the box over the past decade.
It’s more that we’ve only seen a slice, one fashion season, a limited range.
Now he’s hoping to unveil his inner Wan in his own, inimitable style in a new stage show, Naked& Baring All.
“A good 70% of this show is something I’ve never really spoken about before,” Gok, 42, tells iN10.
“That’s everything from stuff about growing up through to becoming known – I hate the word famous – just by being on TV.
“The thing about TV is that you are at the mercy of the producers, the directors, the editors. What ends up on screen is often a watereddown version.
“So I think people will arrive thinking one thing about me and will leave having a very different opinion.
“I’ve been on TV for so many years that people have a preconceived idea.
“You feel you know that person you’ve watched a lot, but I’m there as an expert and people know me for the information I give.
“They don’t necessarily know me for my feelings or thoughts. You might get a bit of that on a chat show but that’s three minutes, six if you’re lucky.
“Over 90 minutes you’ll hopefully see the real person behind the TV mask. We all have to have some of that on, it’s a protection mechanism.”
Behind that TV mask, Gok is both the same and, as he suggests, quite different.
The flamboyant nature is absolutely there and the conversation isn’t for a moment dull. He’s also, though, more serious and thoughtful.
The show – which comes to Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre on November 16 – is still being worked on, but he insists nothing will be off limits.
“I haven’t held anything back. I made sure I wouldn’t give myself any restrictions.
“I’ve probably got about four hours of material already and it’s all stuff I feel I need to talk about.
“The funny thing is, I’m quite a private person. But only because I won’t talk about something in my life unless I have the opportunity to really discuss it and justify how I feel about it.”
There’s plenty that Leicestershire-born Gok has opened up about in the past, from the bullying he suffered for being gay to taunts about his weight – he was “really fat” at 21 stone and had anorexia as he sought to lose it. In those toughest of times it was mum and dad Myra and John – she was English, he was from Hong Kong – and his older brother Kwoklyn to whom he turned. It’s a bond that has remained incredibly tight to this day.
“My parents got years of persecution for being mixed race, then I got it for being fat and being gay,” reveals Gok.
“When you go through that prejudice it forms this bond that sees you pack like animals.
“You don’t ever stop needing those people and you don’t ever stop turning to them when you need them. “It’s a safe place. We use each other all the time for career, social and personal advice and when you trust that, you never let that go.
“In fact, as you get older you recognise that’s a necessity.”
Gok shot to fame with the six series of How To Look Good Naked.
He’s since been a regular on This Morning and had numerous series of his own, such as Baggage, Gok’s Fashion Fix, Gok’s Clothes Road Show: Get The Look For Less.
It’s his original Channel 4 shows that still burn bright in his memory, especially the transformations.
“A makeover is probably one of the most powerful gifts in the world,” he insists.
“We’re all driven by seeing one thing change into another. I feel the luckiest person in the world because I get to transform people and make them feel better about themselves.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling and I’ve never got bored of it. I’ve never not craved the feeling you get at the end of it.
“The attention you get from doing it is huge, too, so it’s definitely a two-way street, not a selfless act.
“The one I really remember from How To Look Good Naked was a lady called Kelly Chamberlain who had gone through a double mastectomy.
Mum and dad were persecuted for being mixed race. I got it for being gay
“When she arrived on set her hair had grown back thick and curly as it often does after chemotherapy and she had this new body she didn’t know how to deal with.
“Over five weeks she really did transform herself to the point where she’s now both a model and a spokesperson for the cancer community.
“I hear of Kelly a lot and it’s wonderful to know she has changed her life after going through such a horrific experience.
“It’s one of the biggest transformations ever but I’d don’t feel it was me who did it. She had the power and the strength, she just needed someone to help her find it.”
As one of the fashion industry’s most recognisable faces, you might imagine that what Gok wears every moment of the day – and how that’s viewed – would be a top priority.
In typically forthright and funny fashion – as it were – he insists that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I genuinely couldn’t care less what people think,” he smiles.
“I’m not bothered if people come at me for my physical appearance.
“If people don’t like my glasses – which a lot of people don’t – then I’m not interested.
“I do what I want. If I wanted to go to the shops in my pyjamas I’d do it. In fact, I’d probably take photos and post them on Instagram.”
Being spotted is something Gok gets virtually every time he steps out of the door. He’s refreshingly honest that it comes with the territory and he’s not going to moan, just be cautious.
“I know for example that it’s not good for me to go to Sainsbury’s at 4.30 in the afternoon when it’s going to be full of schoolkids.
“It’s not that I’m going to be in any danger at all, just that I can’t physically get round the shop.
“But then I wouldn’t walk into a Wetherspoon’s pub on my own at 11.30 at night because once everyone’s got some juice inside of them it’ll be a free for all.
“But it’s my choice to be on television and I can’t then expect people to leave me alone.”
It’s not that Gok is averse to popping out for a drink and he happily rhymes off the names of a couple of his favourite bars – think upmarket and exclusive – in Glasgow.
He insists it’s one of his favourite cities, somewhere his work takes him more than just about anywhere else, and he’s itching to get back for his theatre show.
“I tend to be working from 7 in the morning right into the evening, so when I do see Glasgow I tend to see it at night – and I’m not complaining in the slightest!”
Gok Wan Naked & Baring All, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Nov 16. See paviliontheatre.co.uk