On BBC Breakfast, I accidentally said “fuck” on air. My microphone had been turned on when I wasn’t in the room. It went out across the telly and they had to apologise.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 November 2020 source ↗
The question
If you could revise one chapter of 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.
Others on this question
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Edward Fox
British actor
The years between 13 and 17, which I think are very formative, and the rather arid public school upbringing I had at Harrow.
Christy Turlington Burns
American model
I might speed up a few details, but wouldn’t change anything, other than my dad still being here.
The years of self-doubt.
Björn Ulvaeus
Swedish musician
My surname. You have no idea how many versions I’ve read and heard. It was especially irritating during my Abba years. You can imagine someone calling our hotel and saying: “I’d like to speak to one of the guys in Abba.” Who do you think the receptionist called, Andersson or Ulvaeus?
More from Steph McGovern
View profile →At the beginning of lockdown; it was just me and my new baby and my partner in the house. It was lovely.
Some famous people. I am not giving you names.
For Good, from the bit in Wicked the Musical where the two witches go their separate ways. The lyrics are about people coming to your life for a reason, who might not stay very long, but there’s a reason they’ve played a part in your life. I well up thinking about it.
I used to be an ear-piercing specialist when I was 16, and had to pierce babies’ ears. It was horrendous. I had to practise on my friends – several have misplaced piercings.
As a good friend.
Falling off what we in Middlesbrough call a “tarzy”, a bungee rope. I was swinging on it, fell and broke my arm.
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