HE BECAME famous for getting ordinary members of the public to bare all in front of the TV cameras, writes JOHN ANSON.

Now stylist, presenter and fashion expert Gok Wan is to turn the spotlight on himself, live on stage.

And he admits that both for the audience and himself it’s going to be a revealing experience.

“I’ve made a deal with myself to be entirely honest and to accept at the end of it I might not win everyone over,” he said. “But I’m prepared for that, it’s quite an exciting thing.”

Gok’s one-man show - Naked and Baring All - comes to the Lowry, Salford Quays, next Monday (November 27), and he promises that it will be a different approach.

“I want to make it very live and unscripted and of the moment,” he said. “It’s terrifying but I think it’s the best approach.

“Plus I’m really bad with scripts. When I had the first meeting with the producer and director, I said I’d like to bullet point the show and then just be able to talk; you should have seen the look of horror in their faces but they have come round the idea. I’ve always been more comfortable doing that.”

Gok won’t be short of things to talk about. It is six years since he published his autobiography, Through Thick and Thin, in which he revealed how he was bullied at school for being different. He was struggling to cope with being both mixed race and gay and in his late teens his weight ballooned to more than 20 stone.

Salvation came when he won a place at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and after initially training as an actor, found himself concentrating on costumes and make-up.

He very quickly became stylist to the stars working with the likes of French and Saunders and rock star Bryan Ferry and became a household name through the TV show How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4, which was first broadcast in 2006.

For the last 10 years, Gok has been a familiar face on TV when it comes to fashion and body issues.

“I hated writing the autobiography,” he admits. “I had a terrible time with it. It was cathartic but it was also really painful to write.

“It’s just an odd thing talking about yourself for several hundred pages or 90 minutes - it’s a bit unnatural.

“Every time I sat down to write a chapter I thought ‘what are you doing?’ It’s just odd.

“But having now gone through that and knowing the story is out there, it has prepared me for the onslaught after this show. People will hear so much more than was in the book because I’m in a far more confident and comfortable place to talk about stuff that I wouldn’t have dared talk about then.”

Given his experiences while writing his autobiography, you might think that a highly-personal one-man show would be the last thing he would be involved in.

“I’m doing it because it’s a massive challenge for me,” he said. “I enjoy the sensation of being on stage and the sensation of improvisation so those are the selfish reasons for doing it.”

Gok said he was also inspired to take to the stage after seeing Dawn French’s recent one-woman show.

“She’s a very old friend of mine and I thought I knew a lot about her,” he said. “But when I saw her show I realised I actually knew very little about her. I was really inspired by it. It changed how I viewed those type of shows.”

Gok laughs when I suggest he has become everyone’s best friend.

“I have been very fortunate that I have made warm and honest shows which have talked about very real issues and I think because of that that’s where the trust comes from,” he said.

“The toughest thing is that people come with an idea that they know a huge amount about you and then all the stories start unravelling like Pandora’s Box and you hear stuff you wouldn’t expect from me really.

“It will be interesting to hear what people think about me afterwards.

“I will be very happy if two or three per cent of the audience come away thinking ‘well Gok went through that and it wasn’t funny at the time but look at him now’ and take something from it.”

Now 43, Gok said he still finds it difficult to believe how his career has developed.

“A huge chunk of this show takes the mickey out of what is fame and celebrity and this ridiculous world that I work in,” he said. “I think a lot of famous people and celebrities are going to hate this show because I do talk very candidly about the bonkersness of their lives.

“It feels like I’ve been on a secret mission for the last 12 years and now I’m going back to my editor to say ‘right I’m ready to do the piece now.’”

Given his exploits with members of the public and the title of his show, just how far will Gok go on stage?

“Naked and Baring All is a metaphor but you know, there might be a moment I want to get it all out.” he chuckled. “I’m just going to go with the flow.”

Gok Wan, Naked and Baring All, is at the Lowry, Salford Quayson Monday, November 27.

Box office and further information on 0843-208-6010 or at www.thelowry.com.