Review: Gok Wan Naked and Baring All at The Lowry

From growing up on a Leicester council estate, to to becoming one of the country’s most recognised faces, Gok Wan has had a career that is one to admire. Gracing our screens with hit TV programmes such as How to Look Good Naked, he has been in the public eye for over a decade, instructing us what to wear and what not to wear, but also to feel good about ourselves and our bodies.

This has to be one of the campest life stories I’ve ever heard, with his story almost being told like a pantomime to the audience. 

Growing up in a Chinese family that owned a restaurant, Gok was always surrounded by food. This led him to being an unhealthy weight throughout his childhood and teen years. Being bullied for being bigger and gay, Gok had to come to terms with being “the fat funny friend”. He tells the audience of his weight journey and that it’s still something he struggles with.

From pretending to be a makeup artist at a respected agency, he got his first makeup job and using Body Shop testers and children’s paint brushes. He was terrible at makeup, but he made the women feel beautiful, and that’s why he got booked repeatedly. 

From pornos to films and music videos, Gok did and styled everything, until he made it onto our screens on Channel 4. 

The show was such a hit that it ran for 4 series, and even has an American one. Gok would teach women how to love their bodies and feel self-empowered. 

Gok’s show tells us the secrets that we didn’t know about Gok. The audience laughed, cried and felt good about themselves. The flashbacks and wonderful photos of Gok’s past were the perfect bonus to the story.

This was the last show on Gok’s UK tour, but it didn’t stop him from giving a fabulous performance.