STYLE COUNSEL - My friendships are one of my greatest successes'

As stylist Gok Wan celebrates his milestone birthday, he reflects on his personal losses, biggest achievements and plans for the future

As fashion guru Gok Wan turns 50, he's celebrating not only the major birthday milestone but a whole new outlook on life.

The one-time How To Look Good Naked host has experienced some incredible highs such as receiving his MBE for services to fashion and social awareness in 2020 - but also some heartbreaking lows, including the death of his best friend earlier this year.

When OK! catches up with Gok for an exclusive chat, which is easier said than done as, to quote the man himself, he lives his life like "a bullet train", he gives probably his most intimate and personal interview to date.

Part of this newfound strength to be vulnerable comes with age, he says, but also from his grief. "If only we learned that strength from the positives in life," he says. "It also comes with age.

Can you imagine how mighty you could be in your twenties with that knowledge? The pride that comes with that strength is quite remarkable." In other big news, Gok has also just been announced as an ambassador for fashion brand JD Williams, and is planning to shout far and wide about why midlife women matter...

Happy birthday, Gok! You turned 50 last week. How do you feel about entering that next stage of your life?

I'm excited! I have no problem with growing old. I'm excited about having a big old party to celebrate and I don't feel any negativity towards age at all. I'm excited about being in a space where I'm confident enough to slow things down. My Achilles heel is I go like a bullet train at everything I do and I cram my life with stuff. I guess I'm looking forward to having the confidence to be able to handpick the moments of my life that I want to be present in and the stuff that I don't want to be involved in. And that comes from wisdom. And it also comes from having lived for half a century on this planet. I couldn't have done that in my thirties or probably even my forties.