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If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 1 Arts and letters 29 Politics and public life 4 Business and finance 1 Sport 1

Read by age Any age In their thirties 8 In their forties 6 In their fifties 9 In their sixties 9 Seventy and beyond 4

I would have partied a little bit harder in my 20s.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 November 2023 source ↗

I would tell myself to stop being such a worrier.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 December 2023 source ↗

I would have been OK with feeling shy. In my teenage years, I thought being an actor meant that you had to be a little more performative.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2024 source ↗

I’d give my younger self the lessons I’ve learned over the years, sparing myself the need to figure everything out so publicly.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗

I would get therapy in my early 20s.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 June 2025 source ↗

I would try and get to being comfortable with myself quicker.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 September 2025 source ↗

I’d have gone solo sooner.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 November 2025 source ↗

I’d swap out a few boyfriends.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 May 2026 source ↗

Nobody has answered this one yet.