Ed Balls
British broadcaster and politician
In a pool this summer with the children.
When were you happiest?
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I found out that I was having my baby. They told me I was having a little girl and I named it Elizabeth. Then, when the baby was born it was my beautiful boy, Mark.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 June 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Stephen Dillane
British actor
Playing football in the school playground at lunchtime.
Josette Simon
British actor
I don’t have a happiest; I live in the now.
Brenda Blethyn
British actress
I hope that time hasn't come yet.
More from Shirley Ballas
View profile →Getting the job on Strictly at the age of 56.
I would be much more available for my brother when he was not well and try to understand more about mental health, which I didn’t know anything about at the time.
People close to me throwing me under a bus for a crust.
In my dreams: I’ll feel as if I am falling towards a white light and then suddenly I wake up.
We’ve Only Just Begun by The Carpenters.
Dancing was in my bones from when I started ballet at two.
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