Donny Osmond: When were you happiest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Donny Osmond said elsewhere, not written here

In 1971, I was sitting in a hotel room in London and there was a television chat show going on, debating whether Donny Osmond should be deported because of the chaos he was wreaking. And while I was watching this, there were fans on the street below, chanting my name. I was 13 and thought, “Does it get any better than this?”

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2016 source ↗

Others on this question

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Reece Shearsmith British actor, comedian and writer

On my honeymoon in Lapland.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 August 2014 source ↗

Toni Collette

Right now: Summer. Dusk. On my couch watching Australian Open tennis with my kids and dog. Doors wide open to a beautiful body of water. The first star of the night just appeared in the sky. Life is magical.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2025 source ↗

Simon Le Bon English singer

I was very happy to be alive when I surfaced after my yacht, Drum, capsized in the Fastnet Race in 1985. I was in an air pocket for 40 minutes, and had to take off my long johns to be able to surface.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 September 2015 source ↗

Sara Cox English broadcaster

Getting a daily show on Radio 2, because that was an ambition for so long.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 August 2019 source ↗

More from Donny Osmond

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Question What most recently made you cry? Identity & self

Last Monday was a really emotional day for me: my last son graduated from high school and he’s going on a mission for the Mormon Church soon. I’ve already experienced it four times with my other sons: my oldest went to London, my second son to Italy, my third to Scotland and my fourth the Netherlands. They come back, but the little boy stays out there. He never comes back.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2016 source ↗