Since the 27-year-old first started appearing on red carpets around Australia, often with his dad – Nine media personality and legend of the entertainment business, Richard Wilkins – the actor and model has been making waves with his unique style.
His outfits not only turn heads, they makes headlines. In a world where celebrities are often styled within an inch of their lives to the point where the individual is lost, waiting to see what Wilkins will wear is now a highlight of red-carpet events. Rarely does he disappoint. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but when you witness the joy that fashion brings him, it’s impossible not to share in his delight.
“It’s my form of art – and I love it,” he tells WHO exclusively. “I just always loved having fun. As a kid, I had such a joie de vivre, and I just loved dressing up and I think that’s part of it. I’ve always said that I don’t necessarily have good taste, but I certainly have fun with my fashion. And I just enjoy it.”
But his style is much more than just fashionable fun. The way he dresses and his aesthetic choices seem to go to the very heart of who he is. The attention he has received as a result has seen him propelled into the spotlight to represent the LGBTQ+ community.
For instance, he was an ambassador for Victorian Racing Club in 2022 and is the Pride Day ambassador for Piper-Heidsieck at the 2023 Australian Open. He’s proud of these roles, but acknowledges they come with pressure.
“I think as I’ve found my own identity within the queer community. I’ve definitely become a lot more confident in what I wear,” he explains. “As a little kid for Halloween, I would dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West and I loved that, but as I got older, a little part of that diminished because you get nervous as a teenager. I still wore sparkly things, but it definitely wasn’t as out there as I am now. As I made queer friends and found my own community, it became safe to explore my own identity through fashion.
“Being authentic to myself is a very important thing because it actually did take a little while to get there. It might not have seemed like that, but now that I’m here, I do like who I am and I do like what I do. I really do want to create that representation for people because I think when you do fit in, you don’t understand what it’s like to not fit in and if I can create some visibility for a little kid who wants to be a bit outside the box, then that’s amazing.
“I just hope that me living my truth is the representation that people need because it doesn’t need to be tokenistic – it needs to be real.”
At “six foot three with heels and hair” as he puts it, Wilkins is a striking individual – handsome and pretty all at once, with a killer smile, beautiful hair, toned body and chiselled features. Sadly, his look still attracts negative comments from anonymous social media trolls, but Wilkins is heartened by how much has changed since his early days appearing at events.
“When I first started, I was obviously a queer person, but I think it was encouraged to pull it back a bit, while now it’s so celebrated, which is amazing,” he says. “It’s incredible to see how something that at one time was viewed as a weakness has almost become a superpower, and really leaning into the things that make you different is what makes you special.
"I actually think that’s how it’s managed to come so full circle for me. It really was about me finding joy in going out there and being myself, and I think that’s what people have really resonated with, the authenticity of me being who I am.”
This year he hopes to work in Los Angeles, exploring opportunities to model and act, and anything else the city might offer him. He has big hopes and dreams.
“I just think there’s an opportunity to go there and see what might happen, and I’d love to try to explore that,” he tells. “I’ve always wanted to be an actor or a late-night TV host. That would be a dream ... so let’s try and manifest that and see if it happens.”
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