Martin Kemp: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Originally asked

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

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

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

Recorded Martin Kemp said elsewhere, not written here

I wanted to play for Arsenal. When I have a kick-around with my boy, I still feel as if someone’s going to spot me.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 July 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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Ben Okri

Composer, pirate, scientist, philosopher.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗

Viv Albertine Australian-born British musician and writer

I had no female role models growing up. I lived an incredibly sheltered life: there was no TV at home and we had no visitors. It wasn’t until rock and pop came into my life that I concocted myself as a role model.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 October 2020 source ↗

Shinya Yamanaka Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012

I was born in Osaka, Japan. It was 45 years ago. My father has a small factory in Osaka, and we lived next to his factory

Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, 2008 source ↗

Gregg Wallace English broadcaster and writer

A sailor. I wanted to be in the Royal Navy like my grandad.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 April 2022 source ↗

More from Martin Kemp

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Question How close have you come to death? Death & what remains

In 1995, I discovered I had two brain tumours. The process of having them removed went on for about three years. It was a long and drawn-out time, wondering whether or not I was going to die.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 July 2018 source ↗