I cut people off a lot when I talk. It’s a terrible habit.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
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.
Still biting my nails.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 October 2022 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →I’m very impatient – next question.
The tendency to withdraw into myself.
My interest in Los Angeles.
More from Scott Mills
View profile →I went on a private jet with David Hasselhoff, and it was so turbulent between LA and Vegas I thought it was going down. I also thought: “The headline won’t be about me; it will be: David Hasselhoff and friend.”
When I left Radio 1: full snotty sobbing on air.
Katy Perry. I hired a Russell Brand lookalike as a joke for the radio, and she thought it was actually him. When she realised it wasn’t, she burst into tears. She was still married to him, but I didn’t take into account that there were things going on that we didn’t know.
Heights. For Children in Need, I had to abseil off the Orbit in the Olympic Park. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve done.
I splash out on holidays and scented candles – I’ve got one that my fiancee won’t let me light, so it’s just for show.
Now. I’ve moved to Hertfordshire after 25 years in London, got a fiancee and a dog, so everything has fallen into place.
More on identity & self
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Matthew Modine, Sofia Coppola, Kathy Lette, Olly Alexander, Paapa Essiedu, John Malkovich
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