values

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

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 34 Politics and public life 4
Read by age Any age In their thirties 8 In their forties 4 In their fifties 11 In their sixties 6 Seventy and beyond 9
Michelle Visage
Madonna, she is a trailblazer. She changed the face of pop music for women. She did so much for the Aids movement, encouraging people to vote and the voices of LGBTQIA+ people. Fashion icon, music icon – she deserves all the credit.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 January 2024 source ↗

Walton Goggins
My wife, because of the lessons we’ve learned and what we have overcome over the course of our time together.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 May 2025 source ↗

Tamsin Greig
Nick Cave for his determination to hold a space for public discourse on the deep and difficult and mysterious elements of life.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 May 2025 source ↗

Stephen K Amos
John McCarthy, the journalist who was held captive for five years in Beirut. I’ve met him and he was so full of peace, humility and forgiveness – it was inspiring.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 September 2025 source ↗

Bear Grylls
I love and admire Julia Roberts, one of our Running Wild guests, for the way she has a few close friends, is loyal to her family, doesn’t believe in all the fame stuff and can laugh at herself.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

Natalie Imbruglia
Alanis Morissette because, in my earlier career, she was a big influence on me and had a feistiness that you didn’t see much of in women in the industry. Also, she has been very vocal about mental health issues.

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

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