Not standing up to bullies.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 May 2025 source ↗
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I had an opportunity many years ago to move to America and be given a daytime TV show. The kids were quite young and I decided not to, but looking back I wish I had done it.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 218 →
Simon Mayo
English radio presenter and author
Feeling as though I had to leave Radio 2 to get my life back on track. I had every intention of being David Jacobs or Brian Matthew and going on until I was 127, but it didn’t turn out like that.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2020 source ↗
Minnie Driver
British and American actress
I thought that I would become more mature about certain things, and it didn’t happen.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2023 source ↗
Marian Keyes
Irish writer
Not having had children.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 January 2021 source ↗
More from Kelly Hoppen
View profile →My mum. I was horrendous growing up – I was always arguing with her.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
All of them. I’m not someone who can sit down and read – I wish I could.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
Years ago in a safari park in South Africa, and getting all dressed up for dinner. Walking across the lawn, I didn’t realise there was a swimming pool that hadn’t been lit and walked straight into the shallow end fully clothed. It still haunts me. I remember trying to get out as if no one would notice.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
When my daughter and my stepdaughters were feeling unhappy, we used to pretend to unlock something in their heart and then pour golden liquid into them, and it always warmed them. For me, that’s what love feels like – a warm feeling inside.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
Fiercely loyal, funny, easy-going. I’m sure my daughter and stepdaughters wouldn’t agree with the last bit, but I think I am.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
A travel agent.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 60 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 35 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Adeel Akhtar, Adrian Dunbar, Adrian Edmondson
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All failure & regret questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject