Robert Peston: 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 Robert Peston said elsewhere, not written here

Prime minister and brain surgeon.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 June 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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Philippa Dunne

An actor. I watched a lot of TV because we lived in the countryside and the weather was so bad.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 June 2026 source ↗

Andrew O'Hagan Scottish author

Most days, I wanted to be Albrecht in the classical ballet Giselle, dancing until I dropped dead.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

Eleanor Tomlinson English actress

I wanted to be a vet, and then realised it’s only really dogs that I adore, and if someone had a poorly mouse, I would be the one needing medical assistance.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗

Shirley Ballas English ballroom dancer

Dancing was in my bones from when I started ballet at two.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 June 2018 source ↗

More from Robert Peston

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Question When were you happiest? Time & hindsight

With my late wife, Siân Busby, and our boys, Max and Simon, on assorted Welsh and English beaches, in sunshine and rain – especially when there was a Punch and Judy show on the prom.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 June 2018 source ↗