Arthur Gourounlian on his hero's journey

I’m thrilled to share my latest interview with Arthur Gourounlian. We met in 2010 when Arthur was creative directing and choreographing a film online platform Fashionair, featuring my then-boss, Christian Louboutin. Arthur taught Christian to tap dance for a dream sequence in the film. We saw each other every day for a week, and everyone left besotted with Arthur’s energy, humour and genuine kindness. Oh, and the film went viral.

His is quite the crazy story. Armenian refugee in Belgium becomes hairdresser, gogo dancer, and successful commercial dancer. Arthur performed with the who’s who of world pop pantheon, from Bananarama to Beyonce, Pink to Kylie Minogue, and many more. He then turned choreographer, and creative director, working on campaigns and shows for Diesel, Puma and Jean-Paul Gaultier, among others.

In our conversation, Arthur tells me his story from the time he left Armenia during the war, aged 12 with his parents, and how after settling in Belgium, how harrowing it was to lose his father a couple of years later.

From that day on, Arthur decided to live his life to the fullest: he threw himself into hairdressing and then into dancing; when no one around him thought he could make a career out of it, he defied the odds and built a successful career over the years. He credits his success to only listening to the advice that suited him (at times when his friends always said: ‘Oh, it’s so hard, you won’t make it’.)

Today, Arthur is a judge on Dancing with the Stars Ireland, and he has a new venture, AG Socks, with his husband Brian Dowling. Oh, I forgot to mention, he is one-half of the most beloved celebrity couples in Ireland. The happy couple became dads earlier this year, and Arthur shares their surrogacy journey before getting the gift that is their daughter, Blake Maria Rose.

A sparkling, touching and deeply positive interview with someone who will certainly light up your day. Happy listening or as Arthur loves to say: LET'S DO THIS⚡