‘People would shout and spit in the street’: Gok Wan on his parents’ interracial marriage

When he’s not giving women a confidence boost or mixing DJ decks at nightclubs, Gok Wan can be seen sharing his top cooking tips and fashion advice with viewers on This Morning – so naturally, you would assume he’d be the perfect candidate to step into the shoes of former hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

But the multitalented TV personality, who found fame with How To Look Good Naked back in 2006, would much prefer to stick to his regular guest slot than front the popular daytime show.

“I’ve hosted the show before and I’m not very good at it,” Gok, 49, tells new.

“I’m much better at the cooking and the fashion and all the other stuff they let me do.”

Modesty is at Gok’s core. He was awarded an MBE in 2021 for his services to fashion and social awareness and most recently received the Role Model Award at the Investing In Ethnicity Awards.

But he laughs off being called a national treasure and prefers to call himself a “national bit of furniture that’s been around for a while”.

Helping people is at the heart of his work and he loves it. “People tell me a lot of things,” he explains.

“I think I have one of those faces where people can’t help but tell me about their lives.

“I love the idea that someone might tell me their story – that happens a lot. It’s a good thing.”

Born to an English mother and a Chinese father, Gok grew up working alongside his parents at their restaurant, The Bamboo House, in Leicester.

But there were “tough times”, and his mother “lived off peanut butter” because they couldn’t afford to eat during the early stages of running a new business.

These days, it’s his mum, Myra, and dad, John, who are his role models.

“My mum and dad were told in the 1960s when they got together that their love would never last,” he says.

“People would spit at them, and say they were wrong because they were born in different countries. But you know what, Mum and Dad? You showed them!

“They went through a huge amount when they got together, but they believed in their love and they’ve been together over 50 years now.”

Following in their footsteps, defiant Gok is “proud” to represent his ethnicity on screen.

“I’ve heard quite a few people say, ‘Until you burst onto our screens, there weren’t people who looked like me,” he explains.

"There were very few people who looked like me and my family. I love the idea that I can be a representation in the community. I’m really proud.

"I go to work every day and I just happen to do my work on screen and in the public eye. They get to say, ‘Oh, that person looks like me’ or, ‘That person has a similar upbringing or traditions to me.’ It feels great.”

It was Gok’s struggle with his own confidence and identity that has no doubt played a part in his ability to relate to viewers.

Opening up to the Loose Women panel in 2017 about his battle with anorexia, Gok said, “I was bullied and fat and not feeling like I fitted in.”

Later, in 2019, the star penned an emotional post about his struggles hoping it would help those suffering with their own self-confidence issues.

Describing himself as a “fat child”, Gok revealed he started a diet at the age of 21 and within a year “had lost almost half of my body weight”.

Living off “no more than a couple of teaspoons of honey” a day, Gok said it was “the loneliest place I had been to”.

He wrote, “I wanted to die because I knew I was sick and I didn’t know how to stop the voices in my head telling me I was ugly, fat and not good enough.”

Thankfully, Gok recovered, but he urged his followers to talk more so that there would be “one less young person looking at their reflection wanting to be anyone other than themselves”.

He’s also credited his past for his success – particularly as host of How To Look Good Naked.

“I believe that being an overweight teenager also helped me to do the show and it made me into the person I am,” he said previously.

“I have lived on both sides of the spectrum; I have been morbidly obese, I have been anorexically thin and suffered from anxiety.

“So when a person says, ‘I don’t feel good enough or unattractive,’ I go back to that place and it makes me compassionate and empathetic.”

Gok is now hopeful for a future with acceptance and inclusion for all.

“There is hope and I truly believe we will get there one day,” he says.

If you are struggling and need someone to talk to, call Samaritans free on 116 123

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