45 Facts About Gok Wan

Gok Wan is a British fashion consultant, author, television presenter, actor, DJ and chef.

Gok Wan was born in Leicester, to an English mother, Myra, and a Chinese father, John Tung Shing Wan, who was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to Britain at the age of 16.

Gok Wan grew up in Whetstone, Leicestershire, where he worked in his parents' restaurant.

Gok Wan stood out from his peers from a young age and endured bullying from other children due to the fact that he was mixed race, tall, overweight and gay.

Gok Wan was drawn to performing arts with aspirations of becoming an actor, and after leaving Babington Community College he began attending a course at the Charles Keene College of Further Education.

Gok Wan received a diploma from the college, then enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama and continued to study performing arts.

Gok Wan felt restricted and unhappy and eventually dropped out of the course, returning to live with his family.

Gok Wan set about losing weight; at the age of 20, he began a crash diet, losing half his weight in several months.

Gok Wan took up to 50 laxatives a day to prevent himself gaining weight from the little food he did consume.

Gok Wan reveals that during his diet, he lacked energy and motivation; this, coupled with the stress of his course, sent him into depression.

Gok Wan started his career in London as a makeup artist, then moved into the field of being a fashion stylist.

Gok Wan has worked with many celebrities including Bryan Ferry, All Saints, Damian Lewis, Erasure, Vanessa Mae, Wade Robson, Lauren Laverne, Wet Wet Wet, and Johnny Vaughan.

Gok Wan has offered his opinions to magazines, becoming a fashion consultant, and his work has been published internationally in several magazines including Tatler, Glamour, Times Style, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Face, Afisha Mir, Clash and People.

Gok Wan has worked with photographers such as Rankin, Mike Owen and Jason Joyce.

The series attracted controversy after Gok Wan denigrated semi-naked women, causing critics to question the motives behind the series; journalist Amanda Platell described it as "vulgarity masquerading as self-help".

Gok Wan presented a documentary which was first broadcast on 27 January 2009, entitled Too Fat Too Young, which examined overweight children in the UK.

Gok Wan reflected on his experience of being obese to help several teenagers.

Gok Wan launched his first women's clothing collection with Sainsbury's on 6 November 2011.

Gok Wan's red wrap dress sold at a rate of one every 24 seconds.

The range ran into 24 collections and Gok Wan was their Style Ambassador.

Gok Wan's employer dismissed concerns about his use of the term "bangers" as a description for women's breasts in the brand's adverts.

In June 2014, Gok Wan attended Royal Ascot for the first time as fashion presenter alongside racing presenter Clare Balding on Channel 4 Racing.

Gok Wan was a regular stand-in presenter for Phillip Schofield on ITV's daytime show This Morning.

Since August 2016, Wan has presented Gok's Fill Your House for Free for Channel 4 daytime, replacing Kirstie Allsopp.

In 2017, Gok Wan was a fashion expert on Made Over By on E4 and 2018 saw Gok Wan as a panel member on Britain's Favourite Dogs: Top 100 on ITV.

In both 2016 and 2017, Gok Wan was the Ambassador for the American Express campaign, "Shop Small" where he championed small independent shops and the importance of shopping with local businesses.

The guests experience a 5 star Brunch, and catwalk show of clothes from their local clothing stores, along with a surprise audience makeover and Gok Wan provides a much coveted body-shape masterclass.

The event took place on 16 April 2018, at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London and Gok Wan was host, with judges including Ken Hom, Simon Rimmer, Ching He Huang, Fuchsia Dunlop, Katy Tse Blair and Sonny Leong.

In March 2019, Gok Wan began presenting Say Yes to the Dress Lancashire, which is the first Northern spin-off of the hit TV show, set in Ava Rose Hamilton in Colne, Lancashire.

Gok Wan helped brides search for their dream dress, with a little input from their friends and family.

Gok Wan filmed a brand new series of How to Look Good Naked, ten years after the last show aired on Channel 4.

Gok Wan wrote a book titled How to Dress: Your Complete Style Guide for Every Occasion which was released by HarperCollins on 1 October 2008.

In 2018 Gok Wan performed in Bristol in the production of Cinderella, and likewise in 2019 in Cardiff.

In May 2018, Gok Wan took a job in the animated preschool series Luo Bao Bei, voicing the father and uncle of the main character.

Gok Wan is a big music lover and regularly DJs in the UK and abroad.

Gok Wan's preferred music is house music and club classics but enjoys playing a varied range.

In 2019, Gok Wan signed a deal with QVC to create a new collection called Wuli:Luu.

In October 2024, it was announced that Gok Wan would be Harriet Scott's new co-presenter on the Magic Radio weekday breakfast show from January 2025.

Gok Wan's brother, Kwoklyn, is a martial artist and cook, who launched a Chinese takeaway cookbook in 2019.

Gok Wan has an older sister, Oilen, who is a child-care solicitor.

Gok Wan has been involved in various charitable projects, supporting anti-bullying charities Kidscape and Ditch the Label and launching a National Glasses Day with Specsavers to encourage everyone to wear their spectacles with pride.

Gok Wan appeared in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in March 2009.

Gok Wan is a supporter and ambassador to Stonewall, and The King's Trust, and is an active member of the Chinese community in London and the UK.

Gok Wan was awarded an honorary degree in fashion from Birmingham City University in 2014.

Gok Wan was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to fashion and social awareness.