Graham Norton: What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?

What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?

Originally asked

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

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

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

Recorded Graham Norton said elsewhere, not written here

When I was growing up, my mother would accuse me of showing off. That’s the most shaming, humbling, horrible thing. What was I doing? Showing off!

The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 April 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Billy Crudup

I was going to a bar with friends and there was a line at the door. I’d been there before and asked the doorman to skip the line. He said, “Oh, I remember you, you were in Almost Famous, weren’t you?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he goes, “Yeah, get back in line.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗

Ed Harris American actor and director

'You're not free.'

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗

Peter Sarsgaard

When I was first acting, in college, a relative came and saw me in Hedda Gabler and she said: “Look in the mirror, you’re not an actor. An actor looks like Mel Gibson.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗

Maya Jama British television and radio presenter

That I wouldn’t be successful. Joke’s on them, I guess.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 June 2023 source ↗