A detective. Or a writer. Or a poet.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
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 single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A vet, but I wasn’t smart enough.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 July 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 195 →
David Harewood
British actor and presenter
I had no idea. When I was a week away from leaving school, a teacher said, “We’ve been talking in the staffroom and we all think you should be an actor.” I thought, “That’s exactly what I want.” The rest is history.
Jo Nesbø
Norwegian writer and musician
I wanted to play for Tottenham.
Shirley MacLaine
American actress and author
At three, I knew I was too tall to be a ballerina, so that wasn’t going to happen.
More from Victoria Pendleton
View profile →Apart from two Olympic gold medals, I’m proud of finishing fifth in the Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2016, having never ridden a horse 12 months earlier.
A horse. I have two: Vesperal Dream and According To Sarah.
Six weeks in my dad’s office doing admin was enough to persuade me to pursue a career in sport.
Lots of people, mainly for being so absent from their lives while I was concentrating on sport. I’d also like to say sorry to my dad’s mum, because, aged four, I told her she was the worst cook in the world.
I would love more horses.
Cows in the field next door.
More on identity & self
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Serena Williams, Ivan Lendl, Johanna Konta, Chris Bonington, Gareth Bale, Mo Farah
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