Jason Manford
English comedian and singer
That I go to the gym a couple of times a week, yet I am unfit and overweight.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I assumed that once I reached some level of achievement, I would feel fixed.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
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Jonathan Safran Foer
American novelist
Growing older so quickly.
Ed Harris
American actor and director
The distribution of Copying Beethoven in the US.
At university in the 60s, I thought social justice was going to improve exponentially. How wrong I was.
More from Fearne Cotton
View profile →People have said, “I wish you would die.” That’s the stark truth of being in the public eye – people dehumanise you and say ghastly things.
The more you face shame and stare it in the eyes and talk about it, the less potent it is.
Picking myself back up after very tricky times and trying again.
An air steward, because I loved airports. I wrote a letter to British Airways when I was seven and I’ve got the reply in the loft, which says, “You’re a bit young at seven but do stay in touch.” I was that kind of kid who was eager to start the ball rolling.
On radio, I once said “anal” instead of “angel”.
Impatience. I’m not very good at waiting around or dealing with things that aren’t moving at a pace that I want them to.
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
Also answered this
Grace Coddington, Judy Murray, Bryan Cranston, Abigail Breslin, Donna Tartt, Christopher Eccleston
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