Gok Wan (born Ko-Hen Wan[2] meaning "Noisy Big City"[3] in Chinese) on 9 October 1974, Leicester, UK)[1], is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British-Chinese heritage.
Early life
After receiving a diploma in performing arts at the Charles Keene College of Further Education, Leicester, Wan enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama to study Drama and Education, although he did not complete the course. Following that, he began working as a session hair and make-up artist and soon after moved into fashion styling. He was 21 stone (133 kg) in his teenage years he confessed, "I was really fat".[4] It was not until his late teens that he started slimming.
Career
Over the last 10 years, Wan has worked with many personalities and musicians including Bryan Ferry, All Saints, Damien Lewis, Erasure, Vanessa Mae, Wade Robson, Lauren Laverne, Wet Wet Wet, and Johnny Vaughan. 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 (Channel 5), 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 early summer 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 during spring 2008. His new series, entitled Gok's Fashion Fix was broadcast on Channel 4 in Summer 2008. Gok is noted for his enthusiastic use of the words "literally" and "bangers" (his word for breasts).
Gok 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.
Personal life
Wan lives in London and is openly gay.[5] He mentioned this on the 29 June 2007, on Channel 4 UK's show 8 out of 10 cats "I would do Tony Blair" - although opining that both Gordon Brown and Tony Blair are "mingers". Whilst guest presenting The Friday Night Project, Wan made several sexual references to co-host Alan Carr, and admitted his New Year resolution for 2008 was to "find a husband".
Wan has two brothers, one is an accomplished martial artist and teaches Jeet Kune Do in Leicester, the other is currently studying at Manchester Metropolitan University and an older sister.
Charity
Wan is a celebrity ambassador for anti-bullying charity Kidscape and is launching a National Glasses Day with Specsavers to encourage everyone to wear their specs with pride. Gok is a style ambassador for Specsavers and has his own 'Gok Recommends' range in stores.
References
External links
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