Nelson Mandela.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The king – because he’s been through quite a bit and I think he’s come out the other side brilliantly.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 406 →
Kylie Minogue
Australian singer and actress
The amalgamation of my parents (OK, I know I'm cheating): together, they are an amazing combination of sensible and liberal. I couldn't imagine my life without their sacrifice and singular support.
Danielle Steel
Novelist
My agent Mort Janklow, Sidney Poitier, and Barbara Walters.
Mel Giedroyc
British actress and comedian
Probably my husband. In a world of bullshitters, he steers a tremendously honest course.
More from Nigel Havers
View profile →Nothing at all.
Every actor has the same fear – ie, you’re never going to work again.
Mucking out pigs on a farm when I was 15.
My first wife, because I left her.
I cry all the time in front of the telly. I was doing Gogglebox with Julian Clary recently and I cried watching The Piano.
When they don’t tell the truth.
More on values & belief
- What is the trait you most deplore in others? 197 answers
- What is something everyone in your world agrees about that you think is wrong? 79 answers
- What are you unwilling to optimise? 30 answers
- What have you come to understand about what it means to be human? 14 answers
- What is the most overrated virtue? 10 answers
- What do you need to believe in order to get through the day? 9 answers
Also answered this
Lena Dunham, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Bobbi Brown, Trevor Noah, Cat Deeley, Judith Light
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- All values & belief questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
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