Julian Clary
English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter
Sydney mardi gras, 1993.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I first met Richard, in 1992, on a British Council writers’ tour of Adelaide. We were drinking Australian lager while parakeets squawked rudely in the neighbourhood gumtrees.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 April 2022 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Julia Stiles
American actress
This morning when I woke up. I am generally happy.
Whenever I’m swimming in the lido at London Fields.
Gino D'Acampo
Italian-British celebrity chef and media personality
I am always very happy in Sardinia with my family; I spend at least six months of the year there. Six months working and six months relaxing – I think that is a great balance.
More from Rose Tremain
View profile →Meryl Streep. For all her truthful and perfected offerings that have taken me to an “elsewhere”, in which my mind could feel both soothed and stimulated.
The film of Restoration. A beautiful cast. An award-winning designer. A massive budget. A dog’s dinner.
Talking in cliches. We have the most economic, resonant and versatile language in the world, yet so many people use it in a dull and boring way.
A cream suit from Chanel that cost almost as much as a small car.
We live in a fearful age: Brexit, Covid, global warming, cancel culture, war in Ukraine. Add in pancreatic cancer and you find me in an advanced and complex state of anxiety.
Like coming home.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 137 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 77 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
Also answered this
Judith Kerr, Shirley MacLaine, Gok Wan, Sandi Toksvig, George Saunders, Margaret Atwood
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject