Gok Wan spotted eating at Babul's restaurant Darlington

Gok Wan MBE was spotted at Darlington restaurant Babul's last Friday (September 29) grabbing a bite to eat ahead of a DJ gig in Yarm on Saturday night.

The TV star first rose to fame in 2006 with his show How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4, and later became a regular stand-in for now-axed presenter Philip Schofield on ITV's This Morning.

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Gok Wan with Babul's staff members Sid and Taz. (Image: BABUL'S)

Gok and his friend were originally turned away from the venue after they arrived at abut 8.30pm due to a lack of seats. However, the star returned later on, seemingly keen to eat at the venue.

Staff member Zac Ahmed described the moment fellow diners and the other workers realised Gok's presence.

Read more: TV star Gok Wan stars at DJ event at Teesside nightclub - can you spot yourself?

Zac said: "He came in, sat down and staff spoke to him where we initially didn't realise it was him. It was only when other people started fussing around him that one of the staff realised 'oh my god, it's Gok Wan!'

"That was when the penny dropped but it was really unexpected, who would expect Gok Wan to be in Darlington?"

Zac then went on to describe how kind and personable Gok was with staff as the evening went on.

He said: "Gok was brilliant and really friendly. When the staff were speaking to him he was asking questions and complimenting the food.

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"Customers rarely give us compliments for doing our job but he picked up on those little things and gave us some really good feedback."

Following his meal, Gok took a picture with staff members before shouting out the restaurant on his Instagram story to his 1.1 million followers. 

Gok Wan DJ set at The Keys Nightclub, Yarm. (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

Gok was then snapped at an event The Keys Nightclub in Yarm, taking the stage for his set at 10pm on Saturday evening with resident DJs Mark Thornton and Ross Eland.