The question
Which trait in yourself do you like least?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I don’t think anyone should deplore anything about themselves. You can always improve things, but by deploring you’re putting yourself on a losing streak.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2023 source ↗
Fear of flying.
Having no patience.
Doomscrolling on my phone.
My internalised misogyny that still manages to cloud some of my thinking.
I had to choreograph dancing cows for a commercial. I had to superimpose footage of dancing legs – some were mine – on to the cow. It was bonkers.
Do you have 10 pages? Once, I was dancing in a costume that was like a corset. During a move, the corset ripped and exploded, and I had to carry on doing the number practically in my jockstrap.
Growing up as a gay boy in a small town, you get used to people saying bad things pretty quickly.
Meanness and lying.
That I did everything I had to and I never gave up!
I bought a Mercedes convertible brand new in 2016 and I’ve only done 4,000 miles. I love cars – if I’m going to blow it, it’ll be on a sports car. I already have my eyes on the next one – I’ll get Simon Cowell to buy it.
Nikki Amuka-Bird, Shonda Rhimes, Andrew O’Hagan, Yo-Yo Ma, Denise Welch, Christian Louboutin
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