There’s more to what is shown when we met Honey Khanum for the first time. For the unfamiliar, she happens to be one of the participants on the Travel For Love TLC Southeast Asia show and is a full-time fashion designer. She may be new to being a TV personality and all, however, her quirky and cheerful personality will eventually grow on you soon. Like the saying, there are two sides in every story, meaning — never perceived someone easily based on the first impression. Though it may be a little easier said than done.
Before we get into the heart and soul of Honey, you should first know that she is a 28-year-old, Penangite that is completely passionate about fashion. When we first met her, our first impression was that she had such a bubbly personality that makes everything easy going. And for someone who thought to herself “it’s no big deal” by participating in the show, has shown us that Honey is more than what meets the eye.
How she got to be part of the Travel For Love team
When we spoke about what made her join the program, Honey said that it was unexpected as she saw a poster about it on her Facebook timeline. The poster stated “Do you travel? Do you love to eat? Are you single? Are you within this age?” and upon ticking all of it off the list, she decided to fill the form up. In her mind, it was probably going to be a video on YouTube. However, when she passed the interview, she then found out that it was way bigger than YouTube. It was a program that is in works with Discovery and TLC Southeast Asia.
What concerns her the most
Although she was accepted to be part of the show, Honey was still contemplating if she should go along with it after receiving her contract. One thing that concerns her the most is that “I can’t seem to wipe off the image of how people are being ripped apart in the media.” Not soon after though, she finally builds up the courage with her mother’s encouragement and finally signed that contract to be part of the Travel For Love team.
About her past relationship
Honey’s last relationship was almost 4 years ago and that took her some time to move on from it. Ever since then she had this wall built up like most girls after a devastating break-up. What she wants for herself is to have some time off from boys and focus more on herself before being able to put everything past her. Although it is a scary thing to be alone and might make you jump into a new relationship without any hesitation, it is absolutely essential for an individual to get a breather and not make irrational decisions when they’re placed in a difficult situation.
Thoughts on becoming the “villain”
In Honey’s thoughts, she wondered if she will be given the villain role like how most reality dramas are and that worried her. However, upon checking that it isn’t a scripted program (besides planning the dates), she was relieved. During the shooting of the program, Honey shared with us that going on blind dates are absolutely exciting yet scary. She got to know her dates through text messages, basically a stranger without a face. The producers of the show paired her up with men based on her interests and what she looks for in a guy.
Changes
Although she has quite an experience of being part of the film and advertising industry, Honey knew it wouldn’t be that easy to adapt to having a camera and a crew following you everywhere, every minute of the day. To get to know her more, Honey is a person that enjoys following a schedule or plan that has been made beforehand. But since being part of the show, she had the opportunity to have some free time for herself without thinking about what to do next.
As mentioned earlier, Honey was reluctant to share her feelings and to open up her heart since her last break-up. But through this show, she was able to step out of her comfort zone and allowed her to express her true self whilst embracing her vulnerability. She shared with us that, “Being vulnerable does not depict you as a weak person.”
Honey’s professional background
Honey has been working professionally as a fashion designer for the past 4 years and has her own clothing-line called Hey Honey, Work! She always had a passion for sewing since she was four-years-old and even inherited her grandmother’s sewing machine. Determined to make it into the world of fashion, Honey applied for art schools in the UK, America and France and got accepted to all three. However, she went with the university in France to pursue her studies on fashion where she learned couture techniques and so on for three whole years.
Designing inspiration
As cliche as it sounds, Honey gets her inspiration from things around her. It could be about anything really and we think it is quite interesting to see a young designer flourishing in the fashion world by creating something out of anything. Being a designer, Honey wants to make sure her clothes are environmental friendly hence why she choose to use natural fibre instead of polyester.
Those who are interested to purchase any of her work could either get her ready-made designs or can even have it custom-made. From designing, drafting to cutting, sewing and selling, Honey does everything on her own. We could see the passion and fire in her eyes when she shared with us about her work and honestly, that is all a person needs — something to be excited and passionate about. How many of us could actually say that we are passionate about our work, right? Us excluded, of course!
Advice to future generations
“With the advancement of technology, you won’t need to pursue formal education to be a successful person. All you need is a strong passionate heart about the thing you love doing, do plenty of research about it and never give up when things get tough. What’s important is that you take the first step out and keep going on,” Honey shared.
You can now tune in to channel 707 or channel 728 for HD, every Friday on Astro to watch Honey find love on Travel For Love.
Pictures by Honey Khanum & TLC Southeast Asia