I lose bank cards, I’m untidy, I get bored very quickly.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
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.
Impatience married with being very quick to judge.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 April 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Jane Asher
English actress and author
Minding not being liked.
Paapa Essiedu
British actor
I find it difficult to sit still.
Jerry Lewis
American comedian, actor and filmmaker
No sense of humor.
More from Graham Norton
View profile →I was stabbed in my 20s. It was a late-night mugging and, while taking my wallet, they stabbed me in my chest.
I couldn’t care less.
When I was growing up, my mother would accuse me of showing off. That’s the most shaming, humbling, horrible thing. What was I doing? Showing off!
Now that I’m at this end of my career, I’m gobsmacked that I’ve managed to cling on for as long as I have.
Our wedding weekend in Ireland.
Back in the day, when comedy was crueller, my monologues were full of terrible jokes about people, and you can’t apologise because then you’re asking people to forgive you. Your punishment is to walk around knowing you said these horrible things.
More on identity & self
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Bob Mackie, Pauline Black, Jane Fonda, Bruno Tonioli, Hugh Skinner, Su Pollard
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