- Gok Wan
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Gok Wan 
Gok WanBorn 9 September 1974
Leicester, United KingdomResidence London, UK Nationality British Ethnicity Anglo – Chinese Occupation Fashion stylist
Television presenterEmployer Channel 4 Television How to Look Good Naked
Gok's Fashion Fix
Miss Naked BeautyWebsite http://www.gokwan.com/ Gok Wan (born 9 September 1974) is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage. He is known for his appearances on many television programmes (including his own fashion show How to Look Good Naked), for providing fashion advice to celebrities and for contributing his views to fashion magazines published internationally.
Contents
Early life
Gok Wan (christened Kwokhyn Wan) was born in Leicester, England, to a Chinese father, John Tung Shing (who was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to England) at age 16,[1] and an English mother, Myra.[2] He grew up in Whetstone, Leicestershire, where his parents owned a restaurant. Wan stood out from his peers from a young age and the fact that he was mixed race, tall, overweight and gay led to bullying from other children.[3]
He was 21 stone (133 kg) in his teenage years and later confessed, "I was really fat".[4] He was drawn to performing arts and after leaving Babington Community College he began attending a course at the Charles Keene College of Further Education. Wan received a diploma from the college, then enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama and continued to study performing arts. However, the other students had backgrounds very different to his and he felt that his weight was beginning to dictate his life, later saying:
"[It affected] everything: my personality, how people reacted to me, what I wore, everything. When you sit down with someone who's 21 stone you have certain expectations of what they're like: stupid, lazy or really funny."[3]
He felt restricted and unhappy and eventually dropped out of the course, returning to live with his family. Wan set about losing weight and at the age of 20 he began a crash diet, losing half his weight in several months. Despite the sudden change, he had no problem with having been overweight, later reflecting: "I don't regret having been fat at all. I know how to throw jokes at myself and I use humour before anything else, and those skills allow me to do the chatshows. So I'm thankful for that."[3] He even lamented that, after losing weight, he had to try harder to attract attention, saying that his weight had, to an extent, defined him.[2]
Career
Over the past 10 years, Wan worked with many celebrities including Bryan Ferry, All Saints, Damien Lewis, Erasure, Vanessa Mae, Wade Robson, Lauren Laverne, Wet Wet Wet, and Johnny Vaughan. He also offered his opinions to magazines, becoming a fashion consultant, and his work has been published internationally in several magazines, which include Tatler, Glamour, Times Style, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Face, Afisha Mir, Clash and People. He has also worked with photographers such as Rankin, Mike Owen and Jason Joyce.
Wan has also worked as an "on-screen" fashion consultant on many television shows including: MTV Shakedown (MTV Europe), GMTV (ITV), LK Today (ITV), Big Brother's Little Brother (Channel 4), Battle of the Sexes (BBC1), The Wright Stuff (Five), Make Me a Grown Up (Channel 4/T4), The Xtra Factor (ITV2) and T4 (Channel 4).
In 2006, Wan was approached by Channel 4 and asked to present his own fashion show, How to Look Good Naked. In addition, he wrote a book to accompany the series, entitled How to Look Good Naked: Shop For Your Shape and Look Amazing!, that was published in April 2007. A second series was commissioned and was broadcast on Channel 4 in mid-2007. Along with the second series, he appeared on The New Paul O'Grady Show, in which he persuaded Paul O'Grady to strip "naked". A third series was shown in early 2008. His new series, entitled Gok's Fashion Fix was broadcast on Channel 4 in mid-2008. Wan is noted for his enthusiastic use of the words "literally" and "bangers" (his word for breasts).
Wan wrote a book titled How to Dress: Your Complete Style Guide for Every Occasion which was released by HarperCollins on 1 October 2008. The book was praised by both Heat magazine and Closer for its sensitive and feel-good approach to a style guide.[5] He also has contracts with lingerie firm SimplyYours.co.uk where he has a range of shapewear lingerie, including a 'banger booster' bra, and Dorothy Perkins, which has instore and online tips from Gok on styling its clothing lines.[6]
His next series Miss Naked Beauty, which he co-presented with Myleene Klass, was broadcast in October and November 2008.[7] The series attracted controversy after Wan hosed semi-naked women, causing critics to question the motives behind the series; Amanda Platell described it as "vulgarity masquerading as self-help".[2]
Wan presented a documentary which was first broadcast on 27 January 2009, entitled Too Fat Too Young, examining overweight kids in the UK. He reflected on his experience of being obese to help these teenagers. In 2010, he started working with actresses Laila Rouass and Jo Brand, along with two other celebrity faces, for a new series of TV Book Club for Channel Four.[citation needed]
Wan was voted as the 100th sexiest man in the world by readers of SoFeminine.co.uk in 2010.[8]
He has now begun a new series, a new version of Gok's Fashion Fix called Gok Wan's Clothes Roadshow,in which he makes affordable high street fashions, while Brix Smith styles designer clothes. At the end of a show is a fashion show, where they show their styles to the people who live where the show takes place. A different place is visited each week.
In 2011 he has now showing a second series of Gok Wan's Clothes Roadshow but it differs from the first series as Goks himself styles two sets of four outfits for two different prices, one set for £50 and another for £250. It does still travel around to different places each week and they audience still votes for which collection they like best.
Personal life
Wan currently resides in London.[9] In 2009 he remarked that he had slept with "21 and a half" men in his life, and that he had also slept with women. In the same interview he also claimed that he had lost his virginity to another boy whilst they were both under the legal age of consent.[10] His brother, Kwoklyn, is an accomplished martial artist who teaches Jeet Kune Do in Leicester.[3][11] He also has an older sister, Oilen, who is a child-care solicitor.[2]
Wan has been involved in various charitable projects, supporting anti-bullying charity Kidscape and launching a National Glasses Day with Specsavers to encourage everyone to wear their spectacles with pride.[12] As part of Children in Need 2008, Gok treated the workers of Coronation Street's Underworld factory to a glamorous makeover.[13] Gok also appeared in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in March 2009.
Bibliography
- Wan, Gok (14 October 2010). Through Thick and Thin. Ebury. ISBN 9780091938390.
- Wan, Gok (2008), Gok Wan : how to dress : your complete style guide for every occasion, HarperCollins, ISBN 0007280335
- Wan, Gok (2008), How to look good naked, HarperCollins, ISBN 000726724X
- Wan, Gok (2009), Gok Wan work your wardrobe : Gok's gorgeous guide to style that lasts, HarperCollins, ISBN 0007318545
References
- ^ 8 Out of 10 Cats, 1 July 2011
- ^ a b c d "PROFILE: Gok Wan". The Sunday Times. London. 26 October 2008. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article5014568.ece. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d Freeman, Hadley (21 October 2008). "We are all beautiful!". The Guardian. UK. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/21/women-television. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ Nathan, Sarah (14 May 2007). "TV Wan: I used to be a fatty". The Sun. UK. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article32504.ece. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ "How to Dress: Your Complete Style Guide for Every Occasion (Hardcover)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Dress-Complete-Style-Occasion/dp/0007280335. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ Howden, Sarah (28 August 2008). "Gok Wan's gonna squeeze you in to shape". The Scotsman. UK. http://living.scotsman.com/features/Gok-Wan39s-gonna-squeeze-you.4434620.jp. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ "Miss Naked Beauty". UK: Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/M/missnakedbeauty/index.html. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
- ^ "100 Sexiest Men of 2010: Gok Wan". SoFeminine.co.uk. London. 1 January 2010. http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/understanding-men/100-sexiest-men-of-2010-d17474c248433.html. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (2007-011-04). "In Gok we trust". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/04/fashion.features10. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "Gok Wan: How I told my parents I was gay". London Evening Standard. UK. 3 August 2009. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23727134-gok-wan-how-i-told-my-parents-i-was-gay.do. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ Jackson, Lesley (2011). "Kwoklyn Wan Organiser of the Martial Arts Festival". Martial Edge. http://www.martialedge.com/articles/interviews-question-and-answers/kwoklyn-wan-organiser-of-the-martial-arts-festival/. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
- ^ Abrams, Corrine (2 May 2008). "Video: Gok Wan on finding glasses for your face shape". The Times. London. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article3863832.ece. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
- ^ "BBC Children In Need set for record". Metro. 15 November 2008. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?BBC_Children_In_Need_set_for_record&in_article_id=403234&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
External links
- Official Website
- Biography at Channel 4's How To Look Good Naked
- Interview with BBC Leicester
- Interview with The Observer
- Gok Wan at the Internet Movie Database
- Q&A with Wan
Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
- British journalists
- British people of Chinese descent
- British people of Hong Kong descent
- Fashion journalists
- LGBT journalists
- LGBT people from England
- LGBT television personalities
- People from Leicester
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