Francesca Martinez: If you could edit your past, what would you change?

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

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

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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

Recorded Francesca Martinez said elsewhere, not written here

My all-girls’ high school. I hated it. Large groups of teenage girls aren’t known for their empathy and kindness. It was a shock to realise that people viewed me as uncool because of the way my body worked.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 March 2020 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 203 →

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Irish actor

The public mistakes I’ve made. Most recently, I tried to light an e-cigarette on an aeroplane and was told to put it out. I completely forgot I was on a plane. I’d had, like, three drinks, but it only takes three. I stopped as soon as I got off and I got straight back into my programme, because that’s what I do.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 August 2018 source ↗

Alex Lawther

I would try and get to being comfortable with myself quicker.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 September 2025 source ↗

Belinda Carlisle American singer

I wouldn’t take back the drugs, but there are a few boyfriends that I’d edit out of my life.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 March 2023 source ↗

Toby Stephens

There was a very large part of my 20s where I was an alcoholic, and an addict. When I lost my dad to cirrhosis, I knew that the only difference between us was that, tragically, he couldn’t stop whereas I could.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗