Opening day of The Empire Strikes Back, 86th Street Loews.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
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.
On Curracloe beach with my family in Wexford, circa 1980, after a swim.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 September 2014 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Simon Le Bon
English singer
I was very happy to be alive when I surfaced after my yacht, Drum, capsized in the Fastnet Race in 1985. I was in an air pocket for 40 minutes, and had to take off my long johns to be able to surface.
Bryan Cranston
American actor
Now is pretty damned good.
Right now and when I was pregnant and when my children were very young.
More from Dermot O'Leary
View profile →My parents for the roots; my old parish priest, Father Arthur Barrow, for the fire and the reason; Richard Curtis for the drive and humanity; and, for living in the public eye with principles, George Clooney.
I had my heart broken a lot in my teens, but I'm not sure I'd change it.
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