failure

Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?

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

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One of 24 questions in The Q&A here.

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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 Arts and letters 47 Politics and public life 1
Read by age Any age In their thirties 10 In their forties 5 In their fifties 9 In their sixties 13 Seventy and beyond 10
Neil Gaiman Author of fiction, comics and screenplays
My soon-to-be ex-wife, Amanda. I wish I’d been able to do whatever would have been necessary all the way back to keep us as a unit. Probably the worst thing I did was not tell her how miserable I was, certain that I could turn this around somehow.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 October 2023 source ↗

Mariella Frostrup
I am mortified that we went into Afghanistan, promised to liberate the female population and, 20 years later, dumped them in a situation as bad, robbing girls of their futures.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 November 2023 source ↗

Keren Woodward
I’ve apologised to my son, Thomas, for being absent for quite a lot of his first few years, but, as a working mother and breadwinner, I kind of had to be. I like to think I’ve made up for it.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 March 2024 source ↗

Andrea Bocelli
My father, with whom I had a complex relationship: often, when I was young, his desire to protect me clashed with the stubbornness of my choices.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2024 source ↗

Adam Clayton
To all my ex-girlfriends because I never turned into the person I thought I was. And to Naomi Campbell, for not being ready to deal with my addictions.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 December 2024 source ↗

Mark Steel
My kids. I think if you don’t want to say sorry to your kids you’ve been an appalling parent.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 February 2025 source ↗

Graham Norton
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.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 April 2026 source ↗

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