Driven, authentic, resilient.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
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
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Eager to learn.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 117 →Chaotic, daft and loving.
Impatient, ambitious and happy.
Curious, thoughtful and kind.
More from Fearne Cotton
View profile →Superiority. I shrink when I’m around people who act superior, whether it’s due to authority or intellect. I almost become mute.
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.
On radio, I once said “anal” instead of “angel”.
I assumed that once I reached some level of achievement, I would feel fixed.
Picking myself back up after very tricky times and trying again.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Philippa Dunne, Matthew Kelly, Siobhán McSweeney, Mark Steel, Peter Sarsgaard, Esther Rantzen
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