Welcome to the next episode of How to be a Hero in Real Life. I was out on a walk in nature and found myself thinking about a story I’ve never really told properly.

Back in 2014, life looked very different. I’d made a lot of money, I wanted to invest it, and one of the things I’d always dreamed of doing was opening a restaurant.

What followed was a journey involving love, heartbreak, betrayal, rebuilding myself, getting into the best shape of my life, modelling, taking a risk on a completely new concept and eventually creating "NAKED", a restaurant that went on to win Tatler’s Best Restaurant and become known far beyond Malaysia.

But this story isn’t just about a restaurant.

It’s about what can grow from failure, heartbreak and taking risks.

NAKED eventually led to other ventures, including Naked Diablo Tequila and Naked Diablo Airlines, but the journey wasn’t without its losses. Covid hit the restaurant incredibly hard, I continued paying staff while we were unable to open, and eventually, in 2022, we had to close the doors.

There have been plenty of stories, opinions and rumours online about what happened, so in this episode I wanted to tell the story from my perspective and put the facts straight.

Some things work. Some things don’t. We win some and we lose some.

But sometimes the thing that appears to have failed can create opportunities you never could have imagined.

Believe in yourself. Trust your gut. And whatever you decide to build, aim to make it the highest quality it can possibly be!