Mary Portas: What has been your biggest disappointment?

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.

Recorded Mary Portas said elsewhere, not written here

Not being able to take up my place at Rada.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

Others on this question

Not playing James Bond.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 August 2026 source ↗

Benjamin Zephaniah British poet and author

Not having children.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 October 2011 source ↗

Ivan Lendl Czech and American tennis player

Plenty of matches got away, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so why worry?

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗

Alan Johnson British politician

Not to have been a rock'n'roll star.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2009 source ↗

Now. Without a doubt

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

My wife, Melanie. She's had real trauma and loss in her life, yet she starts every day with joy, and sees the world as a good place

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

Search the directory for somebody in particular.