Gok Wan charms the audience at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival

Having tried his hand, and succeeded, at many different callings, Gok Wan has many talents.

Television, cooking and DJing are just some of the things that he has excelled in since rising to prominence in the mid-2000s - and today, Saturday, August 26, he is at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

Throughout the morning and afternoon he is celebrating Chinese food at food demos in the Albert Halls and in the evening he will be spinning decks to an adoring crowd.

Gok spoke to The Bolton News after his first demo of the day, where he cooked black bean tofu with egg fried rice. 

Gok cooked black bean tofu and egg fried rice (Image: Newsquest)

He said: "I'm not really that much into what I would call posh food. I like good, home cooked, basic food, and black bean has been around for 2,200 years. 

"It's steeped in history, and we order it from a takeaway or a restaurant and we don't know its history. It's quite nice to give it centre stage and let it become the superstar, which it should be." 

He mentioned during the demo how he had been to Bolton before, filming for How to Look Good Naked. 

He continued: "It's my first time at the food festival, I've been here before but not for the food festival."

Gok Wan is currently giving his cooking demo at The Albert Halls, he briefly confiscated the Mayor’s phone earlier as it went off in the middle of the demo. @TheBoltonNews pic.twitter.com/btlNFm98yo

— Zach Harrison (@zachhjourno) August 26, 2023

On being asked if he remembered Bolton, he said: "I can't remember last week, let alone 2010!

"I was in a car and the car had blacked out windows, so I've seen the front door and walked in, I think it's nice!" 

He continued: "I was at CarFest last night DJing, then we got into Manchester at about 2.30am. 

"I'll be cooking exactly the same dish at 1pm, then I've got a break, then I'm DJing at the afterparty tonight, I'm here for everything! I'll do the cleaning, a bit of interior design... 

"I can't wait, I love DJing as much as I love cooking. It's all about interacting with the audience and having some fun and being a bit cheeky. You do the same thing DJing as you are when you're cooking. 

Gok, middle right, with (L-R) Bolton Council Cabinet member for Culture, Cllr Nadeem Ayub, Leader of the Council, Cllr Nick Peel, and Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Mohammed Ayub (Image: Newsquest)

"I've been DJing eight, nine, 10 years, something like that. Then during lockdown I went online to do it, of course everyone was at home and they were looking at things to do and it became a bit of an online phenomenon to do in lockdown." 

Gok added: "It was like, 'oh, Gok DJs' and since then it's taken off and got very busy. All dance music, a mixture of disco, house, tech-house, whatever the audience wants.

"Tonight I'm starting with some disco, house, I've got some old 90s heritage, and then at the very end I'm going to go for the big Ibiza classics, slightly more ambient stuff - and they'll love it!"

For more information about the festival, visit: https://www.visitbolton.com/events/event/85/bolton-food-drink-festival-2023