Hugh Skinner: What do you fear most? — FLAPSS

The question

What do you fear most?

Originally asked

Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire

The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

HS

Hugh Skinner

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Pigeons. One got stuck in my flat once for quite a long time and it really changed how I feel about them.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Maureen O'Hara Irish and American actress and singer

Not getting into heaven.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2014 source ↗

I become very anxious if I think I’ve hurt someone.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2026 source ↗

James Norton English actor

Rats. We had one swim up our loo recently, it was horrific.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 July 2022 source ↗

Being unprepared.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2011 source ↗

More from Hugh Skinner

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Question What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

I’m not interested.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Question How would you describe what love feels like to you? Relationships

Like nothing’s a problem.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

Catastrophising.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Question What do you believe happens when we die? Death & what remains

I think we’re definitely gone, but I do think people leave traces everywhere from what they did in life, and live on and continue to make an impact through the ripple effect of that.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

Everything’s temporary, and how to make aioli.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Snobbishness, superiority, condescension.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

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