【Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network】According to The Straits Times, writing a book was one of the most emotional experiences of fashion expert Tan France's life.
The host of popular reality television show Queer Eye (2018 to present) spoke about both style and substance in a virtual session at the Singapore Writers Festival on Saturday (Nov 13).
Tan France was initially reluctant to pen his memoir, even though he was flooded with book offers after Queer Eye first came out. (Photo / Provided by The Straits Times, TANFRANCE/INSTAGRAM)
The festival, which is organised by Arts House Limited and has as its theme Guilty Pleasures, kicked off on Nov 5 and ends today (Nov 14).
France, 38, was initially reluctant to pen his memoir, even though he was flooded with book offers after Queer Eye first came out.
"I had, like, five publishing houses which wanted my book," he told moderator Maya Menon. "I said for the first few times, 'I'm not interested. I've got nothing to say.' I had a very simple life."
Friends eventually persuaded him to tell his story and France published his New York Times best-selling memoir, Naturally Tan, in 2019.
The Straits Times says, he collaborated with writer Caroline Donofrio, speaking two to three times a week while he was filming the show, and would work on the book in the evenings.
Born Tanveer Wasim Safdar in South Yorkshire, England, to Muslim Pakistani parents, he is one of the first openly gay South Asian men on a major TV show.
In his book, he discusses the racism, colourism and Islamophobia that he has experienced through his life, as well as what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional Muslim household.
"It was one of the most emotional times of my life," he recalled of the writing process. "I kind of pushed down all of the childhood memories and how hard life was as a kid, because I have such a different life now.
"I'm one of those people who does really well with just pretending it didn't happen, and so reliving that was really hard. This poor lovely woman had to hear me cry so many times on FaceTime, it was so upsetting."
He added: "I'm really glad I went there with the book and I'm really proud of the book."
The Straits Times mentions, France spoke of the importance of fashion in his life - clothes, he said, were the only way he knew how to articulate himself - and his own experience of impostor syndrome.
During the first three weeks of filming Queer Eye, he tried to quit almost every day. "In the third week, I actually booked my flight home."
Compared with his American castmates, who had prior TV experience, he felt subdued and out of place.
The Straits Times states, "I'm not an actor. I don't know how to be anyone but Tan. I just thought, people are going to realise I'm not an entertainer, that I never belonged on TV. That was for somebody more fabulous. I panicked, thinking, 'They don't want a real person. They want a star.'"
He and his fellow hosts went on to be nominated for the Emmy Awards.
France, who is married with a four-month-old son, answered questions submitted by fans, including whether leopard print is a neutral - yes - and which Bollywood stars he would most like to style. He named Rekha, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor without hesitation.
